By YACHATSNEWS
FIVE RIVERS – A team of police investigators from Lane County is trying to sort out two shooting deaths Thursday night and Friday on a remote farm deep in the foothills of the Oregon Coast Range.
Everett S. Fuller, 55, who lived with his wife and son in one of the several homes on Prindel Creek Farm, is accused of second-degree murder in the shooting death of Chris “Bubba” Clark Jr. about 10 p.m. Thursday.
As officers from the Lane County Sheriff’s Department, Oregon State Police and Springfield Police Department arrived just after midnight Thursday they exchanged gunfire with another man who had been living in one of the several outbuildings on the farm, the sheriff’s office said in a news release. Police have not yet publicly identified the man, but friends said he had been living on the property for several months. No officers were injured.
Fuller fled after the first shooting, was the subject of a massive manhunt on the farm during the day Friday but was able to surrender to deputies late Friday. He is in the Lane County jail on a charge of second-degree murder. Fuller, who has retained attorney John Kolego of Eugene, was arraigned on the murder charge Monday.
The 124-acre farm is one of the last properties on East Five Rivers Road more than 15 miles south of Oregon Highway 34 and the Alsea River just south of the Lincoln/Lane county line.
The sheriff’s office said the officers involved in the shooting have been placed on leave, as is standard protocol in shootings.
The investigation of both shootings is being conducted by the Lane County Inter-Agency Deadly Force Investigation Team, comprised of investigators from state police, the sheriff’s office, and police from departments in Eugene, Springfield, Cottage Grove and Florence.
After two brief news releases Friday on the shootings, the Lane County Sheriff’s office referred all media inquiries to the Lane County district attorney.
Fuller’s indictment filed Monday in Lane County circuit court said Clark was the victim. Friends said Clark moved to the area about four years ago and had most recently been living in a yurt on the property. Clark was apparently killed in a separate garage-like structure several hundred yards from Fuller’s home.
In a news release earlier Friday, the Lane County Sheriff’s Office said deputies, Oregon State Police troopers, and Springfield police officers responded to a report of a dispute on East Five Rivers Road with shots fired. The caller reported one person was dead, the sheriff’s office said.
“When law enforcement personnel arrived and attempted contact with people at the property, an officer-involved shooting occurred,” the news release said. “One resident was struck by gunfire and died from their injuries. No officers were injured.”
Friday night, the sheriff’s office said in a second news release that a resident of the farm “fired shots toward law enforcement after they arrived on scene.”
“This resident was struck by gunfire from law enforcement and died from their injuries, but was later determined not to be Fuller,” the Friday night statement said.
Special response teams from state police and Lane County responded Friday along with officers and detectives from multiple other agencies. The search Friday for Fuller included off-road vehicles, bloodhounds and police dogs.
It took hours Friday for SWAT members to clear the all the buildings so detectives could begin their investigation late in the afternoon.
Prindel Creek Farm is a sprawling operation with three houses, several manufactured homes, the separate garage-like structure and a yurt. The property is owned by Carolyn Smyth and Margie Grinnell, according to state and county records.
Tyler Halloway was the young man shot by police. He was ex-military and a respectful man. I’ve known him since he was a small boy. With a murder next door and being military I could see him hearing noise outside as the police were looking for the other man and Tyler fired a warning shot and then the cops shot him. I see that as how it happened. Not a day in he’ll would he have fired knowingly at cops. R.I.P. Tyler and may you get the justice you deserve.
I, too, hope he gets justice. I can’t imagine someone knowingly shooting at police when cops are responding to a murder. I’d like to know how the police identify themselves in remote areas, in the dark. Shining bright lights (effectively hiding themselves behind bright lights) and yelling “police” doesn’t cut it. Anyone can do that. This smacks of the wrongful police shooting of that kid that lived up Ten Mile a few years ago.