Police officers search for suspects after an officer was shot twice during a traffic stop Wednesday. The wounded deputy was taken to Sky Lakes Medical Center.
PORTLAND — A man suspected of shooting a sheriff’s deputy during a traffic stop in Klamath Falls was arrested Thursday, while the deputy was to undergo surgery for a head wound. The suspect’s girlfriend was also arrested.
William Jack Parkerson, 30, faces charges of attempted aggravated murder with a firearm and assault with a firearm from the Wednesday shooting, said Klamath County District Attorney Rob Patridge.
Parkerson was arrested in Chiloquin, a small town about 20 miles north of Klamath Falls. His girlfriend, Karey Leigh Pascoe, 33, faces charges of conspiracy and assault with a firearm.
Klamath County Sheriff Frank Skrah identified the deputy as Jason Weber, 40, a seven-year veteran of the sheriff’s office. He was in serious but stable condition and scheduled for surgery in a Portland hospital.
Skrah said investigators were still looking others who were involved, but he wouldn’t say how many or describe how they were involved.
Few details of what happened in the shooting were released, except that the deputy was shot twice, once in the face and once in the side, and that the vehicle, a 1989 black Jeep Cherokee, drove away.
A massive manhunt tracked Parkerson to Chiloquin, a town of about 750 people about 20 miles north of Klamath Falls, where Skrah said he was arrested without any shots fired.
“We had every cop in the state out looking for him,” Skrah said.
Patridge said Thursday the Jeep had been found near a spot called Rocky Point, which is about 10 miles from Chiloquin.
Court records show Parkerson has prior arrests for criminal mischief, assault and robbery. He was often listed as a transient. His last known address was in Klamath Falls. Parkerson and Pascoe are to be arraigned Friday, Patridge said.
Barbara Palumbo, who lives in a trailer park near the shooting site, said she did not hear the gunfire and was alerted to the violence by the siren of a police car. She has lived in the neighborhood for 10 years and said there are many drug users.
“It’s not unusual for us to see police activity,” she said. “It’s kind of sad.”
The incident sent Mazama High School into lockdown, said Randy Rose, vice principal. Those restrictions were later eased and the few children who were inside the building during summer break went home with their parents.
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