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Wednesday, September 14, 2022
thechronicleonline.com
Serving Columbia County since 1881
Sheriff reveals fatal shooting details
“Put your hands up!” Over two minutes later, OSP Troopers arrived. The suspect continued to fire so one of the troopers raised his rifle and fired several shots at the suspect. At that point, the suspect dropped his guns. The troopers and I approached the suspect to take him into custody and render aid. We performed CPR and rescue breathing until medics arrived. When medics arrived, the suspect was pronounced deceased.
JEREMY C. RUARK jruark@countrymedia.net
On the morning of March 31 an officer-involved shooting occurred at a Scappoose towing company. The suspect suffered fatal wounds. The shooting involved Columbia County Sheriff Brian Pixley and Oregon State Police (OSP) Sgt. Chad Drew. The shooting OSP troopers and Columbia County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) deputies, including Pixley, responded to the call of a disturbance call involving a suspect at Grumpy’s Towing at 53279 Columbia River Highway. As officers arrived on scene, law enforcement agents, including Pixley, ordered the suspect to drop his weapon. The suspect, identified as 39-year-old Michael Stockton, fired multiple shots at two law enforcement officers, and the officers returned fire, hitting Stockton, according to investigators. No officers were injured during the gunfire. Multiple law enforcement agencies, including St. Helens and Scappoose Police, also responded to the incident. Officers at the scene rendered aid to Stockton until medical personnel could take over. Stockton was later pronounced deceased. The Washington County Sheriff’s Office conducted the shooting investigation and forwarded the findings to the Columbia County district attorney. In late August, Columbia County District Attorney Jeff Auxier ruled that the shooting was justified.
The Chronicle: At the moment you had to fire your weapon, what were you thinking?
Jeremy C. Ruark / The Chronicle
Law enforcement agents conduct the investigation following the fatal shooting at the Scappoose tow company location.
Details revealed Now that the investigation has ended and the DA has made his ruling, Pixley agreed to talked with The Chronicle about the event. The Chronicle: Describe how you were involved in this shooting, and how it transpired. Brian Pixley: March 31 started like a typical Thursday. On my way to work, I received a call for assistance. (Since we are understaffed, I sometimes clear calls on my way to work.) Dispatch CCOM advised me that Oregon State Police (OSP) was responding to Grumpy’s Towing and asked if I could assist. I was
less than a mile away, so I headed over. Once I arrived at Grumpy’s, I put on my body camera, walked to the entrance, and briefly spoke with two civilians. They indicated the suspect was inside the building. The suspect saw me walking towards him, then turned and walked towards the back exit of the building. I called out “Sir, come here” a couple of times, but he did not respond. As soon as he stepped outside, he turned to face me and fired a shot at me. I immediately drew my firearm and called “Shots fired!” over the radio. I followed the suspect outside. Once outside, I turned to my right and saw the suspect standing about 10 feet away from me with
two guns pointed at me. He started shooting and my body camera fell to the ground. I ordered him to drop his gun, but he didn’t, so I fired my gun. He turned to run away but continued firing at me so I continued to fire back, striking him. The suspect fell to the ground on the opposite side of a car in the lot but continued firing at me. I radioed to dispatch that the suspect was down but still shooting. While on the ground, he continued firing. I moved to get into a better position to engage him but couldn’t locate a direct line of fire and realized that any further shots from me would be fired towards the highway, so I chose not to shoot. Instead, I continued to yell “Drop the gun!” and
Pixley: I was thinking that I couldn’t let this guy hurt anyone. There were civilians on the premises and additional police on their way and I knew he wouldn’t hesitate to shoot them if given the chance. The Chronicle: Directly after the suspect was down, what did you do? Pixley: I radioed dispatch to let them know the suspect was down but still had his gun. I continued to order that the suspect drop his weapon, but he did not do so and continued to fire his gun at me. I continued to monitor his location to ensure he couldn’t harm anyone nearby. The Chronicle: Is this the first time in your law enforcement career that you have engaged in a shooting and killed a suspect?
See SHOOTING Page A5
Wildfire conditions still dangerous JEREMY C. RUARK jruark@countrymedia.net
Courtesy photo
Utilities describe a public safety power shutoff as a proactive effort to reduce wildfire risk during hazardous fire weather conditions.
The wildfire smoke that filled the sky over Columbia County over the past weekend is slowly diminishing as the winds shift and rain moves in from the Pacific Ocean. National Weather Service (NWS) Meteorologist John Bumgardner in Portland said the region is now moving toward more seasonal weather. “It looks a lot like normal weather for this time of the year and the rain helped knocked down some of the smoke and haze from the wildfires,” Bumgardner said. “The high temperatures will be in the mid 70s, which is a few degrees below normal.” Bumgardner said the NWS
office in Portland recorded approximately 0.3 of an inch of rain Sept. 12 and more rain is likely by the coming weekend. Oregon’s wildfire season often extends into late fall, and fire district officials caution that several days of prolonged rain is necessary to ease the threat of fire. “We still need to be vigilant with our use of fire and preventing nuisance fires on the landscape,” Pricher said. “In some fire years, fire season can extend into October. In other words, caution is still needed with campfires.” “The fire danger is going from Extreme back down to High (Red to Yellow), however, this is nowhere enough rain to declare fire season over,” he said. “While the 1-hour fuels (grass and pine
needles) were significantly affected, the 10-hour fuels (.25 inch up to 1 inch in diameter) and 100hour fuels were not touched. What this means is that the water will evaporate very quickly after the sun comes up.” Pricher said Columbia and Multnomah counties outdoor burn ban remains in effect. Last weekend’s ban on campfires, charcoal barbecue and portable propane / patio fireplaces is no longer in effect. CRFR Public Information Representative Jennifer Motherway recommends that the public pay attention to local fire department websites and social media pages to follow potential weather and
See WILDFIRE Page A9
Occupational wages in NW Oregon ERIK KNODER Chronicle Guest Article
The average wage in Northwest Oregon is lower than the statewide average, but much of the difference is due to the prevalence of lowerwage occupations in the area – the most common occupation in the region is fast food and counter workers, followed by retail salespersons. When comparing wages for the Opinion ..................... A4 Poll ............................ A4 Community Calendar A4
Obituaries ................. A5 Classified Ads ......... A6 Legals ....................... A7 Crossword ............... A8 Sports ..................... A10
Vol. 140, No. 37
same occupations, Northwest Oregon is closer to statewide levels than the average difference would suggest, and some local occupations even pay more than is typical for the state. The Oregon Employment Department estimates wages for more than 500 occupations in Benton, Clatsop, Columbia, Lincoln and Tillamook counties combined. The highest-paying occupation in the region with a published wage was family medicine physicians, which had an estimated annual average wage of $257,791 in 2022. Most of the occupations with higher wages were in medicine or management, although some specialty occupations such as physicists, judges, wholesale sales representatives, lawyers, engineers, software developers, and electric power-line in-
stallers, earned more than $100,000 per year. The lowest wages, $29,935 per year, were for restaurant hosts and hostesses. Dishwashers ($30,404 per year) and food preparation workers ($30,774) were also among the lowest paid occupations. Childcare workers were also a lowerwage occupation with an annual average wage of $34,129, though that was an improvement from the year before. Occupational wages in Northwest Oregon are estimated from a survey of local employers. Wages for many different occupations in the region are available – the exact number differs each year. This article presents the 2022 wages for
See WAGES Page A9
Key indicators are lower-wage occupations.
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