Suspect in custody in shooting on the Reservation

By on Wednesday, August 2nd, 2023 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories

News release from the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation

MISSION – Umatilla Tribal Police and the FBI are investigating a Tuesday shooting that left a Tribal member in the hospital.

UTPD responded to a shooting on the Umatilla Indian Reservation on Popcorn Lane at 4:50 p.m., where the victim was found with a gunshot wound that was considered non-life threatening. The victim, an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, was taken by Life Flight to Providence St. Mary Medical Center in Walla Walla.

A suspect, Gerardo Medel Solorzano, was arrested in Boardman and interviewed by UTPD Detectives and the FBI. Solorzano, a non-Indian, was taken to the Umatilla County Jail on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon.

As of early Wednesday morning, the victim was listed in stable condition and transferred to Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland.

The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation comprised of the Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla Tribes, formed under the Treaty of 1855 at the Walla Walla Valley, 12 Stat. 945. In 1949, the Tribes adopted a constitutional form of government to protect, preserve and enhance the treaty rights guaranteed under federal statute.