March 13, 2019
www.registerguard.com
Two men were arrested Wednesday morning after an incident in downtown Eugene during which shots were fired by a Eugene police officer.
No one was injured in the officer-involved shooting. The suspects’ names had not been released as of Wednesday evening.
The incident began around 4 a.m., when a Eugene police officer stopped two men at East 15th Avenue and Pearl Alley who looked “really suspicious,” Eugene Police Chief Chris Skinner said early Wednesday morning. When the officer attempted to stop the men, they had a physical confrontation with the officer before one of them took off running, Skinner said. The officer chased after the man on foot.
Meanwhile, a second police officer arrived and saw the second man allegedly stealing the first officer’s patrol vehicle, police said.
The second officer fired his gun at the vehicle as it drove away.
The stolen patrol vehicle was found a short time later, abandoned a few blocks away, at East 15th Avenue and High Street.
A Springfield police K9 helped track down the suspect. He was arrested after a brief struggle, Eugene police said.
The man who initially fled the officer on foot also was arrested.
The Lane County Interagency Deadly Force Investigation Team is investigating, standard protocol for anytime a police officer fires a weapon while on duty.
Later Wednesday morning, the stolen patrol vehicle remained in the middle of High Street near 1East 5th Avenue while investigators used a 3D imaging device on the vehicle. A bullet hole could be seen in the small window on the driver’s side back door. A police department aerial drone also was used to record the area.
Police shut down the area to traffic from East 14th Avenue and Pearl Alley to East 16th and High Street for most of the morning.
Skinner said the area where the two men were first contacted is an area of concern for Eugene police, given its proximity to the University of Oregon campus and the rate of criminal activity that has occurred nearby.
