Cops: Man Who Saw Bear Accidentally Shot Brother, Then Self

Oregon man was found dead after he called 911 to report accident
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 10, 2022 12:39 PM CST
Cops: Man Who Saw Bear Accidentally Shot Brother, Then Self
Oregon is home to around 25,000 black bears.   (Getty Images/Shalom Rufeisen)

An Oregon man who told emergency dispatchers he had accidentally killed his brother apparently couldn't live with what he had done, police say. An incident report from the Josephine County Sheriff’s Office says a man called 911 around 7am Tuesday and said he "had accidentally shot his brother while loading a gun because there was a bear on their property." Deputies say they rushed to the rural property in the unincorporated community of Sunny Valley and found one man dead from a gunshot wound, the Oregonian reports. They searched the property and found another man dead from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound.

"Based upon the investigation, it is believed the caller took his own life after calling 911 to report the accidental shooting," the sheriff's office said. "This case is still under investigation and will be forwarded to the Oregon State Medical Examiner’s Office." Oregon State Police are assisting the sheriff's office's investigation. The names and ages of the men have not been released, reports the Grants Pass Daily Courier. The property is just south of wooded hills, the Oregonian notes. Black bears, the only species of bear found in Oregon, are generally inactive in the winter months but the region has been experiencing unseasonably warm temperatures. (More Oregon stories.)

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