According to a release from Jackson County Sheriff Sgt. Julie Denney, the person involved in the I-5 shootings Saturday is also related to a killing at Callahan’s Lodge in Ashland Oregon.
In what authorities are reporting as unrelated incidents, a man shot and killed a cook at Callahan’s Lodge in what appears to be a random attack, and then made his way back to Interstate 5 close to the California state line and began shooting at southbound traffic on the highway.
The incident came to a dramatic end only when one of the vehicles, apparently hit by bullets multiple times by the shooter, then struck and killed the suspect.
911 had reportedly received several calls reporting that a man was firing at vehicles on the Interstate. At approximately 7:00 AM, a motorist called 911 and reported that he had struck a man on the Interstate that had been firing shots at his pickup truck.
Officials stated that the shooter had parked his car diagonally along the freeway, exited his vehicle and shot at oncoming cars.
Deputies and OSP officers found the man dead on the highway with a gun on the ground nearby, and according to reports from Oregon State Police and the Jackson County Sheriff’s office, they do not believe the victim killed at Callahan’s knew the shooter.