Two Men Shot on Highway 26 in Zig Zag Area

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

Salem-News.com

(ZIG ZAG, Ore.) - Two adult males were seriously injured Monday night after being shot by an unknown suspect during what appears to be a random encounter on Highway 26 in the Zig Zag area.

Police say names and other information is not being released at this time. Additional information may be released before noon on Tuesday after consulting with the Clackamas County District Attorney's Office.

Monday at approximately 10:00 PM, the two victims were returning from a snowboarding evening in the Government Camp area with two 9-year old males in a van westbound on Highway 26. Approaching 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 adult male occupants of the van decided to pull onto the shoulder and stop near Lolo Pass Road to allow the car to drive by, but upon doing so the car stopped on the shoulder behind the van.

Lieutenant Gregg Hastings with Oregon State Police says the victims got out of the van and began to walk toward the car during which a short verbal exchange between the victims and suspect took place, followed shortly after by at least two rounds shot by a firearm striking both men.

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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.

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

The male passenger victim was seriously injured and transported by AMR ambulance to Welches Middle School. He then was taken by LifeFlight to Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU). The male driver victim was transported by AMR ambulance to OHSU with a serious injury.

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.

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.