Gunman fatally wounds Oregon passenger, dies in exchange of gunfire with police
Associated Press
11/22/09 1:25 AM EST
HILLSBORO, ORE. — A gunman fatally wounded a passenger in another vehicle at an Oregon intersection Saturday, setting off a police chase that ended when the suspect crashed and was killed by officers, authorities said.
The passenger, 56-year-old Danny K. Le Gore of Hillsboro, was rushed to a local hospital where he died. Police did not immediately identify the gunman.
Police initially called the violence a road rage shooting that followed a traffic altercation, but later they backed away from that report.
Hillsboro Lt. Henry Reimann said it still wasn't clear what happened at the intersection, and information from witnesses hadn't clarified the incident.
But he said it appeared that the gunman opened fire on the Le Gore vehicle as it was moving, pumping at least six rounds from a handgun into it.
"It appears that this victim had no connection to the suspect in this case, and it appears to be a random act of extreme violence," the police said in a statement.
Officers chased the gunman west to neighboring Cornelius and said he fired back at them both before and after he crashed at a downtown intersection.
A Cornelius resident, Robert Layton, told The Oregonian newspaper the driver was barefoot and wearing camouflage pants. Layton said the man ran less than 100 feet, firing at officers, before he was hit by their return fire.
Police said no officers were hit.
