Breaking news

BREAKING NEWS: Police face barricaded shooter in home at Owyhee Junction

UPDATE: 8:30 a.m. Thursday: The incident in Owyhee Junction is reportedly over but authorities have not responded to requests for information. Oregon Highway 201 is open to traffic, according to TripCheck.

UPDATE: 5 p.m. Wednesday: The owner of the Rock Store describes coming under fire.

A shooter was barricaded Wednesday afternoon inside a home at the Owyhee Junction across from the Rock Store.

Law enforcement officers responded to a report about a car that was hit by gunfire on Highway 201 at the Owyhee Junction at about 2:15 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 22., according to Lt. Rich Harriman with the Malheur County Sheriff’s Office. The location is about four miles north of Adrian.

The shooter is reported to be shooting from 714 Owyhee Ave. at the Owyhee Junction, according to reports. Harriman said the shooter has not actively engaged in gunfire with law enforcement but is firing shots from the home.

Harriman said there have been no injuries or fatalities. He said sheriff’s deputies and the Oregon State Police are on the scene and are trying to contact the shooter.

Police late in the afternoon were evacuating homes in the area as gunfire was reported to continue, including one report of shots striking the Rock Store.

Harriman said the shooter – who has not been identified – was reported to have shot out the electricity to the home somehow and that Idaho Power is on the scene to restore power once the power is restored or when law enforcement can make contact with the shooter.

Tyler Simpson, owner of the Rock Store, which is located across the street from the shooter, said around 2:15 p.m. he noticed the transformer in front of his store was emitting smoke. When he went outside to check, he found himself half a football field away from the shooter with bullets whizzing by his head.

“I was right in his line of sight,” Simpson said.

He said he bolted back into his store and evacuated his employees and customers out the backdoor amid a hail of bullets.

He, his staff and the customers took cover on the other side of the store until police arrived, according to Simpson.

Simpson said he knows the shooter, who law enforcement officials have not publicly identified. According to Simpson, the shooter did not say anything as he shot up the store. He said the shooter was blaring coyote calls for hunting as he fired. The calls mimic distressed prey, such as rabbits, to lure coyotes by imitating a potential food source.

Police converge on the area where a shooter was firing from a barricaded house at Owyhee Junction on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (ANGIE SILLONIS/For the Enterprise)
Sheriff’s deputies stop traffic north of Adrian as police face an active shooter barricaded in a house at Owyhee Junction on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (ANGIE SILLONIS/For the Enterprise)
Authorities closed Oregon Highway 201 at Beet Dump Road north of Adrian as police faced an active shooter barricaded in a house at Owyhee Junction on Wednesday, Jan. 22. (ANGIE SILLONIS/For the Enterprise)
Police agencies responded to a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 22, in the area of Owyhee Junction north of Adrian. (Google Maps)

CORRECTION: Owyhee Junction is four miles north of Adrian. An earlier version misstated the location. The Enterprise apologizes for the error.

This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.

News tip? Send your information to Steven Mitchell at  [email protected].

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