Incident in US-OR

Around 5:25 p.m. on December 12, a captain with the Woodburn Police Department (WPD) and a senior trooper with the Oregon State Police (OSP), Salem, were killed in a bomb blast while investigating an attempted bank extortion in Woodburn. The chief of the WPD was also injured in the blast. Earlier that day, the 51-year-old captain and the 46-year-old chief, both from WPD, as well as agents from the OSP, responded to the first of two banks involved. There, a hoax bomb device and a throw away cell phone were located in the bank’s dumpster and seized as evidence. Because an anonymous male caller referenced a second bank during the extortion attempt, investigators reported to the second bank after searching the first one. A metal box located in the bushes around the second bank was deemed by bank personnel to belong to the gardener, and since investigating officers found nothing else, the scene was cleared around noon. However, when the gardener arrived at the bank at 4 p.m., he advised that the metal box did not belong to him. Police were again summoned to the bank along with bomb squad personnel, one of whom was a 51-year-old senior trooper/bomb technician of the OSP with over 11 years’ law enforcement experience. The bomb technician x-rayed the box and determined that it was a hoax device. During the investigation, the WPD captain and chief who had been on the scene earlier in the day also arrived. Around 5:25 p.m., the OSP bomb technician took the metal box inside the bank due to a severe rainstorm. When the bomb technician attempted to manually open the box, it exploded, killing him and the WPD captain, who had more than 28 years of law enforcement experience. The men died of fatal wounds to multiple locations of their bodies. The WPD chief, who had more than 20 years of law enforcement experience, also sustained serious life-threatening injuries. He was transported to a hospital where one of his legs was amputated. Meanwhile, the bomb scene was secured as a homicide scene and the investigation intensified. On December 14, a police officer from the Keizer Police Department and one from the OSP apprehended a 32-year-old suspect at his home. The man had a criminal record with prior convictions, probation, and parole. He was arrested and charged with six counts of Capital Murder, two counts of Attempted Aggravated Murder, First-Degree Assault, Second-Degree Assault, Possession of Explosive Device, Manufacture of an Explosive Device, and Conspiracy to Commit Crimes. A few days later, a 57-year-old male was also arrested in connection with the case and charged with six counts of Aggravated Murder, two counts of Attempted Murder, First-Degree Assault, and Possession of Explosive Device. The WPD chief continues his rehabilitation and has returned to duty part-time as of publication.