Oregon police on the hunt for possible spree killer

Oregon police are requesting the public’s help in their manhunt for a suspect in connection with a series of attacks Friday that left three people dead and one person seriously injured. 

Coos County District Attorney Paul Frasier released photos from surveillance footage showing the person believed to be responsible for the three separate attacks. 

The police department in the city of North Bend, located about 175 miles south of Oregon’s capital of Salem, later shared the images on Facebook.

The Lane County Sheriff’s Office temporarily closed a portion of the local highway where authorities had found the suspect’s truck, although police said it was later reopened after they determined that the man had likely fled the area. 

Frasier said in a Friday press briefing that authorities have “not positively identified who this individual is,” adding that people who see the man should not approach him but immediately call 911.

“We have to believe that he’s armed and dangerous,” the district attorney said. 

Frasier said police first received reports of an incident at the Mill Casino in North Bend, where he said two people, believed to be a couple, had been “run over by a pickup truck.” 

He added that one of the individuals died at the scene, while the second person was transported to a local hospital and was in “critical condition.” 

Shortly after, police received reports of a fatal shooting a little more than a mile away from the casino at the Herbal Choices Marijuana Dispensary. 

Frasier said that based on descriptions offered by witnesses, police believe that the same person was responsible for both attacks. 

The district attorney said at the briefing that an initial police search for the suspect pointed authorities to a trailer at an RV park next to the casino, where they found a man believed to be the owner of the truck and the trailer dead inside. 

Frasier said that police do not believe the suspect in the first two attacks was the owner of the truck and trailer. 

“There’s no question in my mind this individual died of homicidal violence,” Frasier said Friday of the third victim, though he did not provide details on the suspected nature of his death, including if he was shot. 

According to authorities, surveillance video obtained from a North Bend sporting goods store apparently showed the unknown suspect purchasing additional ammunition following the attacks. 

Police have not yet identified a motive as they continue their search for the suspect. 

The Lane County Sheriff’s Office said in one of its press releases Friday that the suspect had been described by authorities as “a white male adult standing approximately 6-feet 2-inches and weighing approximately 200 pounds.” 

Police added that the suspect has “short hair” and at the time of the attacks was “wearing a dark-colored T-Shirt and blue jeans.”