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Ore. trooper saved by ballistic vest

The suspect initially fled but was later taken into custody

By Samantha Matsumoto
The Oregonian

CRESWELL, Ore. — An Oregon State Police trooper was shot during a traffic stop near Creswell, according to Oregon State Police officials.

The trooper is expected to survive, and a person of interest is in custody, said police spokeswoman Sgt. Yvette Shephard.

The trooper was shot in the vest at Oregon 99 and Davisson Road after attempting to stop a stolen vehicle about 1:20 p.m., Shephard said.

The trooper fired back but didn’t hit the suspect, Shephard said.

She did not know how many times the trooper had been shot or whether the trooper was alone or with a partner.

The suspect initially fled but was later taken into custody, according to reports by The Register-Guard.

The shooter’s car was found at Saginaw Road near milepost 1, The Register-Guard reported.

Officers from the Department of Homeland Security and Lane County sheriff’s deputies were also at the shooting scene.

The Lane County Head Start outpost in Saginaw was on lockdown from just before 2:30 p.m. to about 3:30 p.m.

Charleen Strauch, operations director for Head Start of Lane County, was sent to the Saginaw building to help with crisis response.

Strauch said six toddlers and 10 adults were in the Head Start center and about 25 kids in the school that shares a building with Head Start. She estimated eight to 10 adults were with those children.

When the lockdown began, Strauch said, Head Start had a bus on the road, taking kids home. “We were told by state troopers to turn around,” she said over the phone Tuesday.

When the lockdown was lifted about 3:30 p.m., the children were able to go home.

Summer Hankins, an employee of Whitsell Manufacturing off Oregon 99 and West Saginaw Road, said she and others who were working during the shooting and subsequent search were confused that law enforcement didn’t contact them.

Hankins said they could see through their camera that officials were searching vehicles.

“We were kind of surprised,” she said. “They didn’t even come to the gate.”

The Lane County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the shooting. There is no threat to the community, Shephard said.

The most recent shooting of a state trooper was on Christmas Day, when state trooper Nic Cederberg was shot by a murder suspect 12 times. Cederberg survived. The shooter, James Tylka, later killed himself.

No other details were immediately available from the Creswell shooting.

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©2017 The Oregonian (Portland, Ore.)

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