Update on Oregon Highway 26 Shooting Investigation

Police say one of the men remains in serious condition.

Salem-News.com

(ZIG ZAG, Ore.) - One Gresham man remains in serious condition today and another has been treated and released after both were shot on Highway 26 by an unknown motorist.

Investigators say the shooting appears to be a random encounter. State Police Spokesman Greg Hastings told Salem-News that there are no other recent crimes of this type on this section of the Oregon Coast for them to compare it to.

The shooting happened last night on Highway 26 in the Zig Zag area. Hastings says police say the victims' names are being withheld at this time for safety reasons and the investigation is continuing to locate the suspect in this case.

The 33-year old driver who was shot has been treated and released, but the 32-year old male passenger injured in the shooting remains in serious condition. Both men are from Gresham.

The two victims were returning from an evening of snowboarding in the Government Camp area Monday at approximately 10:00 PM, with two 9-year old boys in a van westbound on Highway 26. One of the boys was the son of the passenger.

Hastings says that as they approached Rhododendron, a passenger car reportedly began following too closely behind the van and did not pass them even as they were driving in the four-lane section.

The Gresham men returning from their snowboarding trip decided to pull onto the shoulder and stop near Lolo Pass Road to allow the car to drive by. But Hastings says that when they stopped, the car also stopped on the shoulder behind the van.

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Hastings says the victims got out of the van and began to walk toward the car. But after a short verbal exchange between the victims and suspect, at least two rounds were fired at the men.

"After being shot, the men ran back to the van and began to drive away westbound for a short distance before stopping on the shoulder at the Lolo Pass Road intersection. The men called 9-1-1 as the suspect drove away possibly westbound."

Numerous agencies responded to the scene including the Hoodland Fire Department, AMR ambulance, Clackamas County Sheriff's Department, Oregon State Police and ODOT.

"The passenger victim was seriously injured and transported by AMR ambulance to Welches Middle School," Hastings said.

"He then was taken by LifeFlight to Oregon Health Sciences University. The driver victim was transported by AMR ambulance to OHSU."

He says the two boys were not injured.

The suspect has been initially described as a white male in his 30's wearing a baseball cap. No definitive vehicle description is known at this time. Hastings says detectives are at the hospital trying to gain more information about exactly what happened. They are not releasing the type of gun at this point.

The westbound lanes of Highway 26 were closed for several hours during the investigation by Oregon State Police with the assistance of Clackamas County Sheriff's Office. Traffic in both directions traveled through the area using the eastbound lanes.

Anyone with information regarding this case is asked to call Oregon State Police Northern Command Center dispatch at (800) 452-7888.

Hastings says Oregon State Police would like to offer the following safety tips to consider in similar circumstances: * Be police and courteous, even if the other driver is not. Avoid conflict if possible. If another driver challenges you take a deep breath and move to a safe location, never underestimating the other driver's ability to hurt you.

* Don't pull to the side of the road to confront an aggressive driver.

This is the first article published by Salem-News.com on the Zig Zag shooting: Two Men Shot on Highway 26 in Zig Zag Area