Astoria, Or – A man is in custody on a charge of second-degree murder following a complex series of events that led to an officer-involved shooting in Tidewater, Oregon, late last week.
According to the Lane County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO), deputies, along with officers from the Oregon State Police and Springfield Police Department, responded to a home on East Five Rivers Road in the Tidewater area around 10 p.m. on December 26. The call came in after reports of shots fired and a deceased individual at the location.
Upon arrival, law enforcement officers came under fire from a resident at the home. In response, officers returned fire, striking the resident, who later died from their injuries. However, it was later determined that this individual was not the person responsible for the homicide that led to the police response.
The LCSO investigation later identified 55-year-old Everett Scott Fuller as the original shooter in the homicide. Fuller, who had fled the scene, was the focus of an ongoing investigation.
On the afternoon of December 27, Fuller voluntarily turned himself in to the Lane County Sheriff’s Office. He was subsequently arrested and booked into the Lane County Jail on charges of second-degree murder. As of December 30, Fuller remains in custody.
The Lane County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that the officers involved in the shooting have been placed on administrative leave in accordance with department policy. An inter-agency deadly force investigation team, led by the Lane County District Attorney’s Office, is now conducting a thorough review of the officer-involved shooting under the guidelines of the Lane County Deadly Force Plan.
Tidewater, a small unincorporated community located along Highway 34, is about 14 miles west of Alsea. The investigation into both the shooting and the homicide continues, with law enforcement officials urging the public to remain patient as the inquiry unfolds.
