Post man, 72, charged with murder in son’s shooting death

A 72-year-old man was arrested late Friday afternoon on murder and manslaughter charges in the shooting death of his 51-year-old son late Monday night at their home in the rural Crook County community of Post, authorities said.

William George Brown Sr. was taken into custody at the Crook County Sheriff’s Office at 4 p.m. and lodged in the county jail, said Sheriff Jim Hensley. He was held without bail pending arraignment Monday in circuit court.

No other new information was released in the shooting death that was reported around 10:30 p.m. Monday at a home on Southeast Terrible Trail.

Investigators on Tuesday had identified the victim as William Brown, 51.

Shocked neighbors said a father and adult son lived there – and the father killed the son.

Sgt. Travis Jurgens said at that time that Brown was “shot by a relative during a domestic dispute.”

Neighbors in the Riverside neighborhood did not want to go on camera . But one man who lives about 200 yards away said he hadn’t seen the two men in a long time.

Another group of neighbors said they spoke with police earlier Tuesday, and that the son had moved in with his father due to his failing health.

“All I know is, the father shot the son, and the son’s dead,” one neighbor said.

Community members said the two men had been feuding for some time.

Undersheriff John Gautney said deputies were dispatched to the report of a shooting at a home on Southeast Terrible Trail, about 25 miles southeast of Prineville and east of Prineville Reservoir.

Hensley also went to the scene, where deputies found Brown dead at the home. The father, who they said was having “a medical issue,” was taken to Pioneer Memorial Hospital in Prineville.

“There are no outstanding suspects,” Gautney said in a news release, “and all persons involved are being interviewed by law enforcement. There is no additional threat to the community.”

The sheriff’s office was assisted by the Oregon State Police and the OSP crime lab, as well as the office of District Attorney Daina Vitolins.