Pubdate: Sat, 31 Oct 1998
Source: Seattle Times (WA)
Copyright: 1998 The Seattle Times Company
Contact:  http://www.seattletimes.com/
Author: Jeff Barnard, The Associated Press

SUSPECTED OREGON POT GROWER DIES IN SHOOTOUT, 2 DEPUTIES HURT

TILLER, Ore. - A suspected marijuana grower stormed out of his remote
forest home shooting yesterday, wounding two sheriff's deputies before
being killed himself in a hail of gunfire.

Seven officers from the Douglas Interagency Narcotics Team were
serving a search warrant about 12:45 p.m. to the home, where they
suspected marijuana was being grown, said Douglas County Sheriff's Lt.
Norm Nelson.

Before the officers could get out of their vehicles, the suspect came
out firing, Nelson said.

"It was a gunfight," said Jim McDonald, who lives nearby and heard the
shots. "It was semiautomatic and very rapid fire. It was boom, boom,
boom."

The two deputies, who were clad in black and wore bulletproof vests,
were flown by helicopter to Mercy Medical Center in Roseburg, where
they were listed in stable condition.

The suspect, whose name was withheld pending notification of his
family, was pronounced dead at the scene.

"There's always a potential for danger when you go in for a search
warrant," Nelson said. "They weren't even out of the car yet."

More than a half-dozen police cars, ambulances and a rescue helicopter
were sent to the heavily wooded area about 25 miles east of Tiller in
the Umpqua National Forest.

The property, a former homestead, is in the foothills of the Cascades.
Homes in the area are powered by generators and have no telephones.

McDonald said his 16-year-old daughter Donna and a friend were walking
on the gravel road near the suspect's house when shooting broke out.
They ran back home crying. He estimates he heard about 20 to 30 gunshots.

Sandy and Perry Burdic, who were deer hunting in the area, drove by
the home soon after.

Police had not removed the body by yesterday evening while the
investigation continued. After the shooting, police called in the
Technical Response Team to search the house for other occupants. The
house was empty, Nelson said.

McDonald, who did not know the suspect well, said the man had rented
the house for about a year.

He said the man once invited his wife and children inside and showed
them his workshop, where he made music boxes and grandfather clocks.
Once the man brought over some homemade banana ice cream after
borrowing some tools, McDonald said.

This is the first time an officer has been shot in Douglas County
since 1978, when two deputies were wounded in the course of an arrest.
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Checked-by: Patrick Henry