A routine traffic stop led to a chaotic sequence of events for Eugene police officers.
According to Eugene Police Chief Chris Skinner, an EPD officer initiated a traffic stop just after 11:00 p.m. Thursday night. A man was driving a silver truck with a female passenger. The truck pulled into a parking lot off W 11th Ave. in Eugene, but during the interaction, EPD says the truck rammed into the police vehicle and took off.
Chief Skinner said he couldn't be more proud of the officer, who is one of the newer members of the Eugene Police Department.
"This young officer is driving his patrol vehicle 75 miles an hour after he's had his vehicle rammed, operating the radio, operating the MDT, communicating with everybody, being shot at and has the wherewithal to leverage Siri on his iPhone to make a quick call home to let them know he's okay, get back engaged and finish what he's doing," Chief Skinner explained.
Other officers joined in the chase, which led to Fox Hollow Road, eventually leaving the city boundary.
During the chase, police say the male suspect was shooting at the officers with a handgun through the back window of his truck. Eventually the two people in the truck ran into a home on Fox Hollow Road. The people inside that home were able to safely evacuate. Police do not believe the suspects knew the residents.
Police say there were multiple exchanges of gunfire between officers and the suspects.
Eventually, EPD's SWAT and Crisis Negotiation Teams arrived. Police say they tried to negotiate a peaceful surrender, but they were unable to coax the suspects out of the house.
Around 4:00 a.m. Friday morning, officers used chemical munitions, which led to more gunfire, but it also forced the male suspect out of the house. He surrendered peacefully and informed police officers that the female was dead.
However, when police entered the premises, they found her barely alive after a suspected overdose.
"One of the SWAT team members had noticed that she made a very ever-so-slight gasp and recognized her to still be alive, immediately administered NARCAN and stabalized her enough to where medics could come get her and essentially saved her life," Chief Skinner said.
She was taken to a local hospital, where she is expected to survive.
"At the end of all of this, I see this as being an incredibly fortunate and lucky set of circumstances that we didn't have any officers hurt," Chief Skinner summarized. "We didn't have any subjects hurt or citizens hurt. We didn't have any homeowners hurt and a lot of gunfire, and it could have gone a completely different direction."
The male suspect was identified as 31-year-old Chet Evan Raymond of Eugene. He was transported to Lane County Jail pending charges.
Multiple officers have been placed on administrative leave and the Lane County Interagency Deadly Force Investigation team has begun its investigation of the incident.