Redmond PD out with more on strip club shooting

A fight over an old debt broke out at a downtown Redmond strip club early Sunday morning and led to an accidental shooting, a second victim suffering cuts to the hand from broken glass and a Madras man’s arrest on assault, drugs, weapons and other charges, police said Monday.

Police revealed more details after spending over a day sorting out what took place shortly after 1:30 a.m. Sunday at Big T’s, located at 413 Southwest Glacier Avenue. But they said the investigation is not over and asked other witnesses or people with information to contact them.

Officers responding to a report of shots fired found two injured people and provided first aid until medics arrived, said Sgt. Curtis Chambers. They learned one person was wounded in the neck when a handgun went off and a second in the hand from broken glass.

During the fight “between people known to each other,” a handgun in the possession of Miguel Estrada, 31, of Madras, is believed to have been fired unintentionally, resulting in a non-life-threatening injury to a victim’s neck, Chambers said. The victim was taken to St. Charles Redmond for treatment and later released.

Estrada was interviewed by detectives, then taken to the Deschutes County Jail and booked Sunday evening on charges of cocaine possession, delivery and manufacture, supplying contraband, felon in possession of a firearm, fourth-degree assault and attempted assault, unlawful possession of a firearm, second-degree disorderly conduct and two counts of recklessly endangering another person, the sergeant said.

Estrada was booked into the Bend jail around 5:45 p.m. and released around 9:30 p.m. after posting 10 percent of $75,000 bail, a jail officer said.

The case remains under investigation, and Chambers said those at Big T’s who witnessed the incident and have not spoken to police, or who otherwise have information are urged to contact The Redmond Police Department Investigations Unit at 541-504-3420 or by calling county dispatchers at 541-693-6911.

In the wake of two other recent incidents that involved accidental deaths – a young woman whose body was found in a dry irrigation canal and a man who died in a burning car – Chambers said the police agency wants to point out that “despite recent events occurring within the city, Redmond is a safe community.”

The news release concluded:

“It is the vision of the Redmond Police Department to make Redmond the safest city in Oregon. Crime in Redmond, overall, is down from previous years, as documented in the most recent FBI crime statistics (2013).

“The Redmond Police Department recognizes law enforcement alone cannot prevent all crime from occurring and relies on persons reporting crimes to us when they are occurring or as soon as possible afterwards. Through a partnership with those living in and visiting Redmond, the police department can make Redmond the safest city in Oregon to live and visit.”