Edmiston details shots-fired incident
By Terry Murry on Tuesday, March 8th, 2022 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
The following is a news release from Hermiston Police Chief Jason Edmiston (the bold face type is his):
On Monday, March 7, 2022, at about 3:10 pm, officers of the Hermiston Police Department were dispatched to the area of W. Madrona Avenue and NW 13th Street for a report of shots being fired. This was initially called in by an on-duty detective in an unmarked police vehicle in that general area on an unrelated matter. As the detective followed one of the involved vehicles to call out the description and direction of travel for patrol officers, he began receiving fire from an unknown location. The detective then observed a second-involved vehicle and called out its description as well. The detective’s vehicle sustained damage from three rounds but the detective was unharmed.
After receiving the vehicle descriptions, officers located a red, Nissan Altima, in the 1000 block of West Orchard Avenue. The vehicle was stopped and the 17-year old driver was detained and transported to the Hermiston Police Department for questioning. The Nissan was subsequently seized pursuant to the execution of a search warrant.
Officers then learned another involved person was dropped off at Good Shepherd Medical Center with a gunshot wound to the leg. That uncooperative 18-year old from Umatilla was also interviewed and did not sustain life-threatening injuries.
This investigation is ongoing however it appears to be an isolated incident revolving around a fight that escalated.
Because there is so much nonsense spread on social media, I provide the following – it was our agency that requested the middle schools and high school go into a secure room protocol. That request was not instantaneous as we were trying to assess exactly what we had (to include whether our officer was injured or not) while dispatch was receiving numerous additional calls regarding the unidentified vehicle speeding around town. The elementary schools were released as normal, 40 minutes before this incident began. No additional information will be released until further investigation is conducted today.
