Six-hour standoff that shut 40 miles of Hwy. 26 over; man in custody, no injuries
Flash-bang brought an end; two SWAT teams, numerous resources involved
(Update: More details from Warm Springs police; new photo)
MADRAS, Ore. (KTVZ) – A standoff with an apparently suicidal man in a pickup truck with a gun closed a 40-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 26 between Madras and Warm Springs for about six hours Wednesday, ending when a tactical team used a flash-bang device to get the Warm Springs man out of the car and into custody, authorities said said.
Around 8:30 a.m., Warm Springs Tribal Police tried to stop a red Toyota pickup occupied by a wanted subject, Lt. Ron Gregory and Jefferson County Sheriff Marc Heckathorn said, adding that initial information indicated he was armed with a handgun.
As officers tried to stop the vehicle, the female driver continued south on Highway 26, eventually turning onto and stopping on Pelton Dam Road. Heckathorn said the driver stopped about a half-mile down Pelton Dam Road in the middle of the road, just below Highway 26.
The sheriff noted that around 4 a.m. Wednesday, Warm Springs police had sent an officer safety alert to all Central Oregon law enforcement agencies about the man, threat of harm and firearms. He said Warm Springs police had probable cause to arrest him for crimes on the reservation and was on a felony probation violation out of Jefferson County.
Officers conducted a high-risk guns-drawn traffic stop on the vehicle, and the driver, a 41-year-old Warm Springs woman and tribal member, got out and was taken into custody without further incident, Gregory said. The 34-year-old male passenger, also a Warm Springs resident but not an enrolled tribal member, refused to get out of the car and brandished a gun, barricading himself inside, the lieutenant said.
After extensive negotiation efforts failed, a tactical team deployed flash-bangs and other devices in an effort to end the standoff. He surrendered to police and was arrested, then lodged at the Jefferson County Jail on several charges.
Jefferson County Sheriff Marc Heckathorn said after lengthy efforts to negotiate the man’s surrender didn’t succeed, “we had to deploy some tools to get him out of the car.”
He also said no members of the numerous law enforcement agencies involved were injured.
“A ton of resources” were brought to the scene to ensure everyone’s safety, Heckathorn said, including 20 to 30 members of the Central Oregon Emergency Response Team, as well as the OSP SWAT team, two Bearcat armored vehicles a K-9 team and a drone that “went through 10 to 12 battery charges” while keeping watch on the car.
“The drone was able to confirm he had a gun in his hand,” the sheriff said. The highway was closed, as well as the major law enforcement turnout, to reduce the risk of any injuries.
Heckathorn thanked the many law enforcement partners for their help and offered apologies “for the inconvenience that closing a major highway can cause our community, and appreciate everyone’s patience. This matter was extremely dangerous and was too close to the highway to allow traffic to flow through.”
The closure for unspecified "law enforcement activity" occurred before 9 a.m. near milepost 111, at Pelton Dam Road, and extended between Warm Springs and Columbia Drive to the south, Jefferson County dispatchers said in a text alert.
Heckathorn said in an earlier Facebook post that the highway was closed between Warm Springs at the Deschutes River and Madras at the top of the grade “for a law enforcement matter,” with no detour available. ODOT TripCheck showed the highway was still closed between mileposts 71 and 111, several hours later.
