Bend PD: Driver shot, killed self during traffic stop

Bend police confirmed Wednesday that the driver of a car pulled over in a traffic stop last Friday night shot and killed himself while the officer was at his patrol car.

NewsChannel 21’s general policy is not to report on suicides, unless they involve a public figure or occur in a public place.

Lt. Clint Burleigh said an in-depth investigation has been underway since Friday night, when an officer conducted a traffic stop on Southeast Badger Road near Third Street for an unspecified traffic violation.

During the traffic stop, the driver, a 27-year-old Bend man, removed a handgun from a compartment and fired it, causing a fatal, self-inflicted gunshot wound. The passenger, a 24-year-old Bend man, was uninjured, Burleigh said.

The results of the investigation have been reviewed by the State Medical Examiner’s Office and the Deschutes County District Attorney’s Office, Burleigh said, adding that no further information would be released “due to the nature of this incident.”