Driver, licensed to carry, opened fire after getting hit by vehicle
WOODBURN, Ore. - It appears a misunderstanding led to a shooting on an overpass over the weekend, according to new information released by police on Monday.
The shooting happened around 7 p.m. Saturday at the Interstate 5 overpass in Woodburn, near the Woodburn Company Stores.
Lejeune Bryant, 37, of Woodburn, was injured and is now in fair condition at Oregon Health & Sciences University.
Investigators have since learned that the shooting followed a minor fender-bender where one vehicle had lightly rear-ended another on the overpass.
The two drivers got back into their vehicles after agreeing to get off the overpass to exchange information. Police said Bryant looked back to make sure no traffic was coming and began pulling out. However, he told police he did not realize that the other driver, 31-year-old Ethan Carey of Tigard, had gotten back out of his vehicle.
Bryant ended up hitting Carey, although not hard. Police say that's when Carey, who is licensed to carry a concealed weapon, pulled out his gun and started firing.
"I heard three really quick gunshots," said D.J. Cowdrey, who works at a nearby restaurant. "Ten seconds later there was a really big blast, like a shotgun. So I came running back in the building. Customers were coming in that had laid down in the parking lot when it happened."
Carey has not been arrested in connection with the shooting, at least at this point.
"It's unclear whether he's done anything wrong," said Captain Jason Alexander with the Woodburn Police Department. "This is not a typical situation."
Guess he ain't licensed to carry anymore
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Not saying this is the case here but I have a friend who was lightly hit from behind in PDX then when he got out to see whats up he was held at gun point and robbed. Sadly for the robbers they only got the $5 dollars he had in his wallet.
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Although he claims he did get the last laugh...
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He said they followed the robbers back to their place then came back with a gallon of gas and torched their car. Having known him for 40+ years it sounds like something he would do and I have never heard him lie or overly exaggerate a story so I am betting he really did get the last laugh...
I love how the media puts emphasis on  that he is licensed to carry like this is evil incarnate  . Anyways, since we only know what is reported in this story, we don't know if there were heated words passed back and forth or if any threats were made to the guy that used his firearm in self defense when he was hit again by a car he was just involved in an accident with. Â
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So,since this guy was not arrested for the shooting based on the evidence on scene and the statements made to the officers,law enforcement thinks this guy was within the law to take the shots.Â
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 Alright , lets hear it from all the lefties, gun-hating liberals out there who think that he should be burned at the stake.....
 @Civ  And if this guy is arrested, won't you guys start howling "Irresponsible Gun Owner!!!" and tell us all about how he's nothing but a bad apple who needs to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law - or, metaphorically, burned at the stake?
 @Civ The media tries to frame the story, translation- "A "responsible" gun owner pulls his gun out and shoots".
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It's true even though it has a bit of spin. They could word it as "man tries to defend himself from car" but it's not nearly as divisive. That said, I see it as a hot head who should have his license to carry revoked, and should be charged, but I'll leave off the burning part, we are supposed to be civilized.
HA !...... "I love how the media puts emphasis on  that he is licensed to carry"
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So now the media shouldn't report certain facts because they may be interpreted wrong by some "rightwingnutjob gun slinging john mclane wannabe" (I added that because of your stupid rant at the end, by the way !
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Oh, and by the way, not all arrests are made immediatly even if they have a suspect in custody at the time so your inference has no merit , sorry, john !
"It's unclear whether he's done anything wrong,"
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Really? Discharging a weapon, attempted murder? I'm SURE the guy did something wrong.
Oh , come on dee, he did nothing wrong, look at the second ammendment. Now just move along, this is no time to talk about gun violence ! said the french guy from the nra !
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So this goofball feared for his life, thought he was going to be run down, had time to pull his gun and fire 3 shots ?
Sounds more like he got bumped by a driver that didn't see him, stepped OUT of danger and thought he'd be john mclane for a few momments....yippee ki yay !!!
 @sargerator If you're holding a hammer, every problem looks like a nail...
So inference being....all gunnut owners (that exludes reasonable persons) think that when they carry, it's "hammer time" ....wonder if they wear "hammer pants" and have the album "Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em" ???
Great. So the next time someone tries to handle a fender bender in a civil, non-confrontational manner, they stand a chance of being shot.
 @Max Quinn You're so right. We should ban private ownership of all motor vehicles, and everyone should be forced to ride crim...errr, light rail for the good of the community. They lead to nothing but problems.
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I mean, do you really NEED that Prius?
 @NotAChance Can't you even try to be original? Just take a wild stab at it. The car analogy is soooooooo old and useless - unlike my Subaru, which is just old.Â
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The presence of the gun turned a situation in which two guys would have exchanged insurance information and gone about their business into one in which one guy got shot. Or, maybe I should say the irresponsible use of the gun changed the situation.
Responsibly ! That's the whole point here AND apparently neither "license" holder acted responsibly...but...and that's a big BUTT...
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On one hand a dent , maybe a bruised leg...10 minutes and insurance.
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but and theres that big BUTT !!
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10 seconds and 10's of thousands of dollars in hospital bills AND law suits !
 @Max Quinn "Didn't mean to fire from the hip..."
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Ok, now I'm offended. LOL....
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Yes, responsibly IS the word of the day.
 @NotAChance Lime.
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Sorry, the humor sailed over my head. The car analogy is a pet peeve. Didn't mean to fire from the hip...
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You can choose to live without both a gun and a car. Or you can own both - but you have to use them responsibly. I guess we agree on this one.
 @Max Quinn Can't you even have a smidgen of humor? Here, I was agreeing with you and all.
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The presence of a vehicle used irresponsibly is what started this chain of events. Let's back up even further, and claim that the prevailing laws concerning the speed limit were also at fault, along with whatever distracting road signs were in this area.
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But of course, you believe the auto is indispensable, whereas gun ownership is not.
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You have your kool-aid, and I have mine.
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Also, I prefer grape. You? :)
I'm not saying its justified but from what was reported here it sounds as though the other guy tried to run Carey over with his car. If you move your car in the direction of a police officer you will end up with an entire clip unloaded on you not just 3 shots. And it sounds as though Carey was HIT by the other car while standing in the street. So I think more information is needed here to know what is going on.
@mike I'm just curious, did Carey have his weapon out when he got back out of his car to proceed back towards the other guy? If the other guy didn't know he was there and indeed 'tapped' him as he tried to pull out while looking back, how quickly did Carey have his gun out and shoot? There are a lot of unanswered questions indeed.
These "licensed to carry" Â cowboys just can't wait for a chance to shoot somebody.Â
 @KKStJohnÂ
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If this guy hit a cop with his car, the cop would have killed him AND it would have been ruled justifiable. Â The rules are the same for civilians.
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But you "demonize all gun owner" loser types just can't wait to condemn someone for exercising their right to self defense.
No different than licensed to drive people cause accidents, bicycle riders who blow through stop signs or left wing Portlandian's with keyboards.
Oh wait, I forgot how special you are.   PBBBBFT!
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 @gunnutz Just another keyboard warrior leftist.
 @Mr. Carbon Footprint  As well as someone who apparently is unable to dress himself. I don't want to see that avatar pic again!
 @flyroy  @Gravity Hey now, careful. I've seen the cupcake crew get pretty riled up, and it's not pretty when the pastry's flying.
@Gravity Works! Now that's discrimination against his gay lover, the cupcake crowd will be coming for you!
 @Gravity Works!  @Mr. Carbon Footprint He's the typical "snipe and run" type.
Something tells me that Mr. Carey had better have a HUGE liability insurance policy!!!
Something tells me there is more to this story.....
somebody did not sell their gun to the city or maybe this guy got one-fast and furious in portland
I wait on se 122nd to go get my oe8 to cross the street. I wish cars would just drive on their way. The law says anybody on a curb is a crossing zone. Why bother with all the crossing islands at welfare and free clinics
Sounds like a case of road-rage backfired on this guy...
Did the model shoot or the other way around? Pretty gets away -ugly does not
 @Bert The model was shot.
Gun people. Cray-cray.
 @correct Right, they're all over the place occupying and destroying parks and doing drugs.
But those people are just fine Portland citizens at their best, right?
You should be scared then, because your outnumbered, and way out gunned obviously.
 @JeepersÂ
So, by outnumbered, you mean there are less people who own guns that who don't? Â Because only 30% of Americans own guns. Â Or did you just mean "I'm going to say something a simple Google search will rebut because, duh, freedumb."
 @Travis Beehler  @JeepersÂ
There are TONS of sources, and maybe you should have researched before coming in to my kitchen, because now you look stupid. Â http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2012/03/chart-day-gun-ownership-30-year-decline
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2012/12/19/tragedy-stresses-multiple-gun-ownership-trend-in-us/1781285/
http://www.vpc.org/studies/ownership.pdf
You see the irony in your post....right ??
 @Diogenes  @JeepersÂ
30% of statistics are made up on the spot. Â Care to cite your source?
Wow kind of sad after hours of comments I don't think I saw one hoping the guy who got shot makes a full recovery. Just speculations and accusations about gun owners and already convicting someone before the police have even investigated it.
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Ain't the Internet great and the days of finding a unbiased jury of your peers not very likely...
 @FreedomRocks Well he shouldn't go around punching people. He's not going to get any sympathy from this crowd. He's more likely to get lynched, or shot multiple times LoL
@The Voice of Reason @FreedomRocks Okay, the guy who was shot is named Lajeune. Based on the name, there's a reasonable expectation that he is black. You talk about lynching. Are you a KKK?
Interesting to see where the dust settles on this one..and acquire more facts.
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The Pro-gun, anti-gun debate not withstanding.
 @Quaoptician Facts don't matter in Portland. This is a knee-jerk reaction town.
 @Quaoptician That doesn't require facts. Just don't forget to abuse the reporter for not having all the facts and details in a sufficiently instantaneous amount of time, with perfect accuracy and grammatical precision, for everybody's free news.
Oregon concealed handgun laws required the license owner "demonstrates competence with a handgun".  Carey obviously failed that requirement. Â
 @deathmetalcat Not obvious at all. The guy hit him with his car. Further investigation needs to be done of course, but if he believed that the driver was intentionally attempting to drive over him he legally has a right to respond with force. Of course if he was just really irked that the other driver hit his car and then hit him and decided to make his displeasure known with gunfire- well, that's a different story.