Bend man, 18, jailed for shots from SUV; 1 passenger hurt

(Update: More info from police; no number on shots fired)

An 18-year-old Bend resident was arrested Tuesday on several charges, accused of firing a stolen shotgun several times out the window of an SUV traveling on Highway 97 north of Bend, as well as one shot that partially amputated several fingers of a fellow passenger, police said.

Bend police were dispatched around 11 p.m. Monday to the Albertson’s on the city’s south end on a report of a man who had been shot, Lt. Juli McConkey said in a news release Wednesday.

An investigation found that Gabriel McGhehey-Lightner was one of five friends who were traveling in an SUV heading south from Redmond toward La Pine, McConkey said.

As the SUV approached Bend, McGhehey-Lightner allegedly was firing a 12-gauge shotgun out of the driver’s side back window as it headed south, McConkey said.

She said he ” was just shooting out of the window, not at anyone or anything specific. ” McConkey said he did not know how many were fired. She said both men were in the back seat of the SUV.

At some point, another passenger, Noah Small, 18, of Keizer, told McGhehey-Lightner to stop shooting out of the SUV and tried to push the barrel of the shotgun away from himself and the window.

A shot fired then by McGhehey-Lightner struck Small’s left hand, partially amputating several fingers, the lieutenant said. Small was dropped off near Albertson’s South and was taken to St. Charles Bend for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.

No other injuries were reported, McConkey said, adding that she had no information on whether drugs or alcohol were believed to be a factor in the incident.

Around 1 p.m. Tuesday, McGhehey-Lightner was contacted on a traffic stop while leaving a La Pine home and was taken into custody, McConkey said. A shotgun and other evidence were recovered from the SUV. The shotgun was reported stolen to Deschutes County sheriff’s deputies earlier Tuesday.

McGhehey-Lightner was interviewed by Bend police detectives and booked into the county jail on charges of second-degree aggravated assault, unlawful use of a weapon, recklessly endangering another person and first-degree theft. He remained held Wednesday on $40,000 bail.