Autopsy Under Way in Fatal Tumalo Shooting

An autopsy was under way Tuesday at the state Medical Examiner’s Office near Portland on a 29-year-old Tumalo-area man allegedly shot and killed by his father, authorities said.

Deschutes County District Attorney Patrick Flaherty told NewsChannel 21 Tuesday that James Howard Hargrave, 61, allegedly used a Ruger single-action .357 revolver to fatally shoot his son, Steven Hargrave, 29, in the chest at the home they share on Highland Road.

Flaherty also said the son “had been living with (his) parents for at least one year.”

The DA said he will ask at Friday’s arraignment that James Hargrave continue to be held without bail pending further court proceedings.

The wife of James Hargrave and mother of Steven Hargrave, who shared the couple?s home at 65180 Highland Rd., called 911 dispatchers at 10:42 p.m. Sunday to report the fatal shooting, said sheriff?s Capt. Marc Mills, adding that the caller told dispatchers ?a father just shot a son.?

Shortly after arriving on scene, deputies made contact with James Hargrave and found his son to be dead at the scene, Mills said.

Sheriff?s detectives were called in to investigate. Mills said James Hargrave was arrested for murder and unlawful use of a weapon and was held without bail at the county jail.

?There was an argument? between the father and son before the fatal shooting, Mills said, but investigators are still looking into the details.

A revolver believed used in the crime was recovered at the scene, the captain added.

?We believe alcohol was involved in the situation,? Mills told NewsChannel 21, though to what extent again is under investigation.

Hargrave made his first court appearance Monday afternoon and Judge Michael Adler ordered him continued held without bail. He’s due for arraignment on a formal indictment Friday afternoon at 1:30 p.m.

Court records show the victim was convicted twice as a minor in possession, back in 2000 and 2001, while the father has no criminal record.

Mills said the family lived on the Tumalo property as caretakers for the owner, identified in county property tax records as Brian Robertson. He and the family have separate homes on the property, Mills said.

The Oregon State Police Crime Lab has joined in the investigation, Mills said, and the district attorney?s office also is helping coordinate the case, as they do all major crimes.

Mills said detectives and OSP forensics experts were ?going through the residence, very diligently, very slowly, and processing the scene for evidence? and any clues as to what took place.