Transient caught, jailed in SE Bend parking-lot shooting

(Update: Adding details)

Two-hour manhunt found him in the rocks near irrigation canal

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- A 43-year-old Bend transient who allegedly walked up to a car in a southeast Bend parking lot and shot the driver Monday night was found hiding in the rocks near an irrigation canal, ending a two-hour manhunt, police said.

Police were called around 10:20 p.m. to a shooting complaint in the parking lot of Okawa Steak House & Sushi at Third Street and Reed Market Road, Lt. Juli McConkey said.

The caller, a 21-year-old Redmond man,, told 911 dispatchers he and a friend, a 28-year-old Bend man, were sitting in his car when a man they didn’t know approached them, McConkey said.

The man, later identified as Vicente Guerra, displayed a gun and shot at the driver, striking him as he said in the driver’s seat, the lieutenant said, adding that Guerra allegedly fired two shots, one that didn't hit the man or car. The two men then drove away and called 911.

The driver suffered a non-life-threatening injury and was not taken to a medical facility, McConkey said.

Guerra last was seen by the victims in the area of the Towne Pump gas station on Southeast Third Street.

Several officers, a K-9 team and a drone searched for Guerra for about two hours until he was found in a rock outcropping near an irrigation canal in the area, McConkey said. The handgun was recovered on Guerra at the time of his arrest, she added.

Police said they determined Guerra was staying in a nearby motel and was under the influence of drugs when he was arrested.

Guerra was treated by Bend Fire medics for exposure to the elements and taken early Tuesday to the Deschutes County Jail. He remained held on more than $800,000 bail, facing two counts of attempted murder, two counts of first-degree attempted assault, first-degree robbery, unlawful use of a weapon, two counts of menacing and second-degree counts of disorderly conduct and criminal mischief.

Court records show Guerra was arrested last month and indicted Jan. 6 on 10 charges, including two counts of strangulation and three counts of fourth-degree assault, in a domestic violence case. He was conditionally released and has a plea hearing scheduled for Feb. 11.