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Man who opened fire on community at Owyhee Junction dies in house, officials confirmed

The man who terrified rural Owyhee Junction on Wednesday with hours of gunfire is dead, officials confirmed.

The shooter, identified as Joel E. Brousseau, 58, barricaded himself in his two-story home at 714 Owyhee Ave. while firing hundreds of rounds at nearby businesses, passing vehicles and police.

Police said that he died by suicide late Wednesday night, before a SWAT team battered its way into the heavily-barricaded home.

No other people were injured in an episode that started at 2:15 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 22, according to law enforcement officials.

Throughout the hours-long standoff, law enforcement exchanged gunfire with Brousseau between 4:45 p.m. and after 5 p.m., according to a press release from Malheur County District Attorney Dave Goldthorpe.

Tyler Simpson, owner of the Rock Store, located across the street from Brousseau’s home, said he found himself half a football field away from the shooter as bullets whizzed by his head. 

Simpson said he initially walked out to the front of the store to check the transformer that Brousseau had shot from the window of his home. It didn’t take long for him to realize that Brousseau was firing upon the store and that he was in Brousseau’s crosshairs. 

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

According to Simpson, his staff and customers took cover on the other side of the building amid a hail of bullets. 

Brousseau didn’t say anything as he shot up the store, which, at the time, had about 10 people inside. Instead, Simpson said Brousseau blared coyote calls for hunting as he fired. The calls mimic distressed prey, such as rabbits, to lure coyotes by imitating a potential food source.

Simpson said he, his staff and customers were pinned down for over an hour as Brousseau fired multiple rounds, nearly nonstop from the window of his home. 

Simpson said he knew Brousseau moved to the Owyhee Junction in 2019. He said Brousseau mostly kept to himself and appeared to live alone just a couple of houses west of Oregon Highway 201. 

Little is known about Brousseau. Records show that he lived in Meridian and, prior to that, Camarillo, California, before moving to Owyhee Junction.

During the standoff, law enforcement, which included the Malheur County Sheriff’s Office, Oregon State Police and other surrounding agencies, set up a perimeter around the area and evacuated homes and businesses, closing down Oregon Highway 201 in both directions.

According to reports, some who lived in the area could not evacuate safely and were forced to shelter in place until Brousseau took his own life.

If you are experiencing a crisis, call Northwest Human Services Hotline at 503-581-5535 or 1-800-560-5535. The National Suicide Prevention hotline is 1-800-273-8255.

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

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