In a one-room log cabin in the Blue Mountains of Eastern Oregon, says the Grant County sheriff’s office, a 14-year-old boy shot and killed his foster father and another man at the cabin while they were on a deer-hunting trip in dense forest outside the tiny community of Granite.
The boy, who was not identified because of his age, shot and killed the two men at the cabin around midnight Wednesday then ran off before accidentally shooting himself in the leg, Sheriff Glenn Palmer said.
He returned to the cabin for help, and another member of the hunting party held him at gunpoint and taped him to a chair until deputies arrived.
There was no immediate word on a motive or possible charges against the teen. Palmer said he filled out a probable cause affidavit, listing two counts each of homicide and unlawful use of a firearm.
He said the boy was expected to recover from the gunshot wound.
The owner of the cabin had to drive nine miles to Granite and wake up a resident he did not know to contact authorities. The boy was driven by ambulance to the hospital in Baker City, Ore., then flown to a hospital in Boise, Idaho.
Hunting camp is a time-honored fall tradition in rural areas of the Northwest. Kids skip school to learn hunting and wilderness skills from their parents and grandparents.
When the timber industry dominated the rural economy, sawmills would shut down for a week to let workers have time to bag a buck that would help feed their family through the winter.
Palmer said it was not clear how long the party had been at the cabin near Granite. Deer season started Sept. 28 in Eastern Oregon.
Little was known about the victims — Michael Piete, 43, and Kenneth C. Gilliland, 64 — whose driver’s licenses listed the same address on a country road outside Baker City, 25 miles east of the cabin.
Piete had lived previously in the little nearby town of Haines, a former stage coach stop and railhead for livestock that has about 400 residents.
Authorities were not saying just what happened at the cabin.
One victim was shot in the cabin, another outside, and a rifle and pistol were involved, Palmer said. The shooting did not appear to be alcohol-related.
