UPDATE: OSP TROOPER-INVOLVED SHOOTING IN OAKRIDGE; LANE COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE LEADING INVESTIGATION
Posted: September 19th, 2010 8:14 AM
A Boise, Idaho man who has been the subject of an extensive manhunt east of Oakridge since Thursday was shot and wounded Saturday night by an Oregon State Police (OSP) trooper on the east edge of the Oakridge city limits. JAMES PATRICK POWERS, age 47, is being treated at a Springfield-area hospital and the Lane County Sheriff's Office is leading the investigation into the officer-involved shooting.
Preliminary information authorized for release indicates on September 18, 2010 at approximately 9:30 p.m. an OSP trooper and Oakridge police officer responded to a report of a subject matching POWERS' description walking toward the Oakridge city limits near Fish Hatchery Road and Salmon Creek Road. The trooper and police officer spotted the man in the 48000 block of East 1st Street. As the officers attempted to make contact with man, he pulled out a handgun and was shot at least once by the OSP trooper.
The two officers immediately began emergency medical care on the wounded man until Oakridge Fire Department paramedics arrived and took over. The man, positively identified after the shooting as POWERS, was transported by ambulance to Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend for treatment of the non-life threatening injury. The officers were not injured.
POWERS was wanted following a September 16th robbery, kidnap, and car theft near the Cultus Lake Campground that is being investigated by Deschutes County Sheriff's Office. Later that date, POWERS attempted to elude OSP troopers on Highway 58 until abandoning the stolen car about seven miles west of Oakridge. He fled into a heavily wooded area armed with a firearm.
Law enforcement officers from several agencies searched around-the-clock for POWERS until Friday night. Troopers and officers patrolling in the area have continued to look for POWERS prior to Saturday night's shooting. In addition to warrants currently held out of Deschutes County, POWERS also has a felony warrant out of Ada County, Idaho for Probation Violation.
The names of the two officers will be released Monday. Per standard procedure, the OSP trooper is on a modified duty status during the investigation.
During the officer-involved shooting investigation, questions should be directed to the Lane County District Attorney's Office or Lane County Sheriff's Office.
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