Armed Prineville man surrenders, ending 4-hour standoff

A Prineville man pulled a handgun from his waistband after a guns-drawn traffic stop late Saturday night, prompting a four-hour standoff and evacuation of nearby homes until negotiations led to his surrender, police said Monday.

Officers responded shortly before midnight Saturday to the 200 block of Southeast Lynn Boulevard on a report of a domestic assault, Sgt. Mark Monroe said.

As they responded, officers were advised the suspect was trying to leave in a blue Toyota pickup containing guns and possibly being driven by a family friend.

“Officers had information the suspect threatened to pull guns on law enforcement if contacted,” the sergeant said in a news release.

When officers arrived in the area, they spotted it heading east on Southeast Lynn Boulevard. Monroe said officers caught up to the vehicle on Melrose Drive and a “high-risk” traffic stop was initiated

While officers contacted the pickup’s occupants, Joshua Shane, 42, of Prineville, got out and pulled the handgun from his waistband area, Monroe said.

“Shane walked away from the vehicle while making threatening statements, the sergeant said, retracing toward the end of a property, where he was contained by police and Crook County sheriff’s deputies.

Surrounding homes and residents were evacuated as police called for the Central Oregon Emergency Response Team (CERT) and Oregon State Police. Melrose Drive and other adjacent streets were closed as “Shane refused to put the gun down, keeping law enforcement at a distance for several hours,” Monroe said.

After a standoff for about four hours, CERT negotiators were able to end the incident peacefully and Shane was taken into custody.

Shane was booked into the county jail on a felony charge of strangulation constituting domestic violence and second-degree disorderly conduct. He remained held Monday without bail, also facing an outstanding Deschutes County misdemeanor for failure to appear in court on a DUII charge.

Monroe said Prineville police want to thank the sheriff’s office, OSP and CERT for assisting, as well as Crook County Fire and Rescue for being on standby and to “Pastor Dan”, who “was kind enough to respond and open the door to his church on Lynn Boulevard for our evacuees.”

“We apologize to those who had to evacuate that we weren’t able to get you into temporary housing sooner,” Morgan said.

Anyone with information about this incident was urged to call Monroe at 541-447-4168 or email mmonroe@prinevillepd.org.