Sniper 'Person Of Interest' Is Son Of Deputy

[JJT]

April 27, 2004

Sniper 'Person Of Interest' Is Son Of Deputy

PORTLAND, Ore. - Doctors upgraded the condition of a highway shooting victim from serious to stable on Tuesday.


Bullets struck two pickup trucks on Highway 30 east of Clatskanie Monday afternoon. Police later detained the person of interest in the shooting at his home without incident.

Oregon State Police confirmed that person is 20-year-old Gregory Gibson. Lt. Dale Rutledge said Gregory is the son of a Columbia County Sheriff's Deputy.

Gregory has not been charged with any crime because there is not enough evidence at this time to charge him.

The investigation yielded weapons and other evidence, but Lt. Rutledge said they have not been able to draw a link from what they found to the shooting.

The Victim



Clatskanie resident Scott Lannan, 42, was returning from a job and talking with his office on a two-way radio when he was hit.

Co-workers called 911 from their Longview, Wash., office as they overheard the incident unfold on the radio.

Lannan told KATU that, "I heard a bang! The window had been blown out and I felt a hot sensation right through my body."


His friend Bob, who was riding in the truck with him, thought the window was broken by a rock, so Lannan told him, "I said, 'Bob, I got shot!' and I pulled up my shirt and it was trickling blood."

Lannan said he drove for a while to get out of range, then pulled over. "I did not want to stop until we got to a nice open area," he explained.



Lannan illustrated with his hand, that the bullet hit his abdomen, "…then stopped down against my liver."

"The hot sensation ripped through my body, I felt that I knew it was a bad feeling," Lannan said.

Minutes later, a bullet struck a second pickup, said Lt. John Wood of the Oregon State Police. Nobody was hit.

Police took Gregory Gibson, who is reported to have mental issues, to St. John's Hospital for a psychiatric evaluation Monday night.



Police said Gregory is a person of interest, yet he is their only person they suspect in the shooting.

Gregory has not been taken into custody and continues to live at his home near the scene of the shooting.

"I hope he gets punished ... so he doesn't come out and do this to somebody else," Lannan said.

Lannan was transferred Tuesday from intensive care to a recovery room, a hospital spokesman said. (From KATU and AP reports.)