I saw this first on The Blaze. I’m not positive it isn’t a hoax running around the right wing echo chamber, so I tried to back track it to a reputable media source – the same story appears almost word for word on a number of “online newspapers”
That site purports to be a Gannett newspaper.
The version on The Blaze contained a detail that no other version carries – that the gun lock on one gun caused the other gun to discharge.
Orly? Source please? That was what pushed me over the edge to suspect this whole story is a hoax. I looked on the Polk County (OR) Sherrif’s department for an alleged press release and didn’t find one.
Making up facts is MSNBC’s job. Leave that to the experts.
While searching for the address, I discovered there is an FCC licensed tower. He was probably going to come back next to strip copper.
http://www.city-data.com/towers/cell-Independence-Oregon.html
Actually, this appears on the Sherrif’s Dept Facebook page and is credited as posted by the Sherrif’s Dept. Looks to be a good case of simple justice to me.
http://m.facebook.com/pages/Polk-County-Sheriffs-Office/132340400145183?id=132340400145183&refsrc=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fpages%2FPolk-County-Sheriffs-Office%2F132340400145183&_rdr#!/note.php?note_id=586248424718570&refid=17
I don’t know if that link will work or not. The “online newspapers” were repeating the Facebook page word for word. While it appears to be the web site for the Sherriff, the post is out of character with the rest of the posts. If there is a link from the Sherriff’s page on the county web site, I didn’t see it. The official web site has crime reports and doesn’t mention this incident. I’m still not convinced it isn’t a hoax
Here is a news source that did more than copy/paste the Facebook post
http://www.kgw.com/news/w-salem-man-apparently-killed-by-gun-he-had-stolen-194954021.html
They actually talked to the detective and have an on the record quote. Now I’m happy. If the Blaze had made an attribution to a source, that would have stopped my concerns in their tracks.
KGW: “Williams added that the AR-15 rifle and the shotgun were both angled with their butts on the floorboard and their barrels pointed upward, toward the driver’s seat. On the bumpy farm road, the bolt head of the shotgun apparently bumped against the rifle’s trigger, firing one shot that hit the suspect and exited through the roof.”
Blaze: “Williams says it appears that a lever on the shotgun got into the trigger guard of the rifle. When the truck hit a bump in the road, the rifle fired once, striking and killing Mendoza in a freak accident.”
The Blaze has updated their story since I read it, linking to the San Francisco Chronicle and referring to AP as the source.
AP Story
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/51038937/ns/local_news-springfield_or/
NBC News? Hmmmm….