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Lincoln City police officer Steven Dodds was critically wounded during a traffic stop Sunday and police are still searching for the prime suspect, David Durham. Officers from several different jurisdictions descended on the town of Waldport, 40 miles south of Lincoln City, where Durham took off on foot after abandoning his car, which was damaged by a spike strip on Highway 101.
OPB News is following this story as it develops. On Friday, we're devoting the show to the community's reaction.
Do you live in Waldport or in a town close by? Do you own a vacation home there? How has the shooting and manhunt affected you? If you live elsewhere, have you ever lived through something similar?
We will be broadcasting live from the Natural Selection organic food store at 140 NW Highway 101 in Waldport on Friday. You are welcome to join us there at 9 a.m. if you're in town.
Tagged as: coast · police · shooting
Photo credit: kehtaiKAM / Creative Commons
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Everybody chamber your guns, pass the ammunition, and let's go for an old fashion Manhunt in Waldport. Loser buys the Beer!
Fire all your guns at once--YeeeeeeHAAAAAAAA!
Yes it is cold, but after a few rounds, your barrel will keep your hands toasty.
Love your Camou--but is it a little too 2009?
It's like hide and seek or tag....but with guns.
This will tear him a new hole.
An old fashion gun fight on small town main street. Tourists eat it up.
I am not Suicidal. I am fine. I am the opposite of Suicidal, I'm Homicidal.
Men do wear makeup, but it's black and green.
Happiness is a Warm Gun.
We are Raising Arizona.
Welcome to OryGun. Pilgrims go home.
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My compliments, it takes a brave man to insult folks who are likely better armed than he is.
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And that's the problem, isn't it?
We have a Gun Culture which leads to Gun Violence.
And this episode is not isolated and will not be the last.
Hand guns with a high prevalence of mental illness, keeps SWAT Teams busy.
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"And that's the problem, isn't it?"
:-) I apologize if my point was obtuse... how about just being polite... finding some common ground with folks?
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When I was a lad in Klamath Falls in late 1940s everyone owned guns. It wasn't any big deal. Almost all males and quite a few women hunted. But the murder rate was low except maybe on the Klamath Reservation. I knew no one who went around carrying a loaded pistol though. There was no need. A murder was very rare. There were no gangs, either. What has changed us?
That is the question authorities should be asking. What is different today that makes owning a gun sound somehow criminal or makes the owner seem demented, or dangerous? The major change is found in demographics. After that, our incessent wars and bombings and invasions. Then there is the glorification of violence by Hollywood and the video games we allow the media companies sell to our children. Even the music kids and their child-like parents listen to is violent and vulgar....and stuped.
The wonder is that the national murder rate isn't worse than it is.
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Does a gun make your home safer? Interesting statistic:
Guns involved in Fatal Shootings: SUICIDES ARE MORE THAN THREE TIMES MORE LIKELY THAN KILLING IN SELF DEFENSE.
GUNOWNERS: You are 3X more likely to kill yourself and your family than any bad guy. Do you drink? Are you prone to sadness or depression? Do you ever lose your temper? Is your gun loaded and conveniently located?
We have met them enemy, and he is us. If our aim was better, it would be even worse.
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/pdf/ss/ss5904.pdf
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It certainly made my homes safer in Pakistan/Afghanistan, Colombia, Liberia and in Uganda. Sooner than you think possible they'll be more comforting here. What the hell is wrong with suicide? Doesn't Oregon's laws still allow doctor assisted suicide? Pills tho trendy are so uncertain.
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This kind of programming is something I would expect of a commercial talk radio station, not OPB. What is really to be learned from this kind of discussion?
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Not much. I'm here because I am retired and have too much time on my hands. My children all live on the east coast, so no family near. Besides that I enjoy being irritating to liberal Oregon's 40 yr old children, chronic whiners and selfpitying adults. I find most views expressed here so totally at odds with reality that it is utterly fascinating to read them.
Many seem amazed and angry to find the world is such a wicked and harsh place to live in. They don't like it a bit and believe they can remake it, if they weep hard for the unfortunates and complain about conditions, and, of course, emit less greenhouse gas.
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Gereng i appreciate your comments and find your wisdom very englightening >> i hope the thought police allow u to continue to post.
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Here are a few things I’m interested in learning:
How has this event changed people in Walport and around here? How will it affect their behavior and what they teach their children? What theories do they have about where Durham went? Sometimes local observers think through things in a different way than police. How do police decide how many public resources to put into a situation like this? What do they weigh? Where did Durham go? If he did shoot the police officer as suspected, why? What could change to prevent another situation like this?
What else? Add your questions in!
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I agree--what is learned in going to Waldport? We always turn opb off when 'think out loud' starts. Too irritating. Rather listen to silence.
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umm ummm emily >>>>i suspect the police will have swat teams in the area for years to come >. all collecting overtime >>>i am thankful this officer was not killed or we would have to endure another 20 mile procession of publicly owned vehicles and thousands of public emplpyees (collecting overtime and/or overtime being paid to cover their shifts) expressing their grief at public expense >. i estimate the Painter memeorial cost tax payers atleast $500,000.00>>>>>>>.. i would love to see a real cost accounting of the "outpooring of grief" but that will never happen>>> wouldnt a personal day taken off (with pay ) do the job??
ummm ummm >>. what do u think about that emily??
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Well, we learn yet again that guns are too easy to access in the U.S. We learn that there are too many psychologically damaged wingnuts loose in our midst. The dangerous ones don't control themselves by wiggling into the too tight skinny jeans of a society purportedly governed by the "rule of law" and personal responsibility.
We learn that Americans act out their "I can do what I want because I ain't hurtin' nobody" thing until they go too far and get rules of law imposed on the majority of us who aren't acting like gigangimous puckering exhaust ports.
We learn that Durham loose in Waldport is a current news story that affects the lives of numerous people. Plus it's turned into a manhunt which feeds our desire for prurient entertainment. "Martha, my dear, where are my blue soma pills? Did you burn those philosophy books like I [aksed]? Montag is in our driveway with his fire truck - again."
TOL offers us the opportunity to shape a thoughtful conversation along the lines that guns are completely unnecessary in this society. Stupid humans shooting folk causes more harm than good. Stupid humans cling desperately to their second ammendment rights while their freedom and guns get stripped away by the lunatics they vote for. Lunatics lash out at the government, their mouths afroth with the spittle of incendiary vitriol they don't even hear themselves screaming. Meanwhile the U.S. rots from a wingnut democracy into corporate totalitarianism as we vote mindlessly for American Idols.
Hamsters wear out the squeaky bearings of their hamster wheels. Lemmings are packed into shiny metal boxes, contestants in a suicidal race. Daddy grips the wheel and stares long into the distance. And from the bottom of a Scottish lake bad things rise to the surface, man. Bad things....
You're right, Chrisrmc, what's there to talk about?
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The Coast is isolated and if the police had done their job barricading the few exit roads, Durham is trapped. It is obvious he doesn't want to be captured. The Police are spending half a million on helicopter, boat, cruiser patrols, horse patrols and foot patrols--money we do not have. The Majority of Oregonians want this man dead. The prison guards have a special place in their heart for criminals who attempt murder of a law officer. If he is captured and goes to trial, we will be subject to television broadcasts of a 'Lougher Leering Grin' for months, and millions in trial costs, attorney fees and incarceration.
Sometimes SUICIDE is the best option. Durham is no George Bailey.
Odds are Suicide: 50%.
Death in Shootout: 25%.
Likelihood that this costs taxpayers over a million dollars: 99%.
Sensible Gun Control: Priceless.
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I live here and this situation has got me staying at home more and locking my doors, my car, and staying away from local businesses. I am avoiding walking in the woods and on the beach. There are lots of trails, hidden caves, and empty houses in this area. I think this guy could have gotten out of Bayshore and could be hiding anywhere. I hope the police are right and he IS in Bayshore, and they get him soon. This is costing our economically depressed community a lot of money! Thanks to Portland Police for sending help.
I am embarassed by some of the comments other people have left on this thread. Not all people in this community are so coarse and hateful.
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I can almost guarantee you that those comments are made by people from Portland who have no idea what it's like to live in a community like yours and no clue what it might be like to be in law enforcement. I am weary of the extremism of liberal Portland society.
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If they have his dog, wouldn't they use it to help find him? I always found that my dogs were really happy to see me and would run to me and bark and all such dog things.
And they have the car, so wouldn't they bring in bloodhounds to sniff something he had in the car and then hunt him?
Thanks for the guests comment about trying to use his dog, I learned something about suspects dog effectiveness.
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A number of years ago, a prisoner was released from the Lincoln county jail. He proceeded to walk into someones house, steal booze and a loaded 45. He then went and broke into many houses in my Newport neighborhood, shooting out many windows. This idiot cut himself on broken glass, and bled everywhere. This included my downstairs neighbor's apartment. My neighbor came home, found the place ransacked, and called police.
I was at a nearby bar and came home after this, knowing nothing of it. I came home, went into my place, and heard a lot of noise coming from underneath me. I knew my neighbor well enough that I went out to my deck (where we had a stairway connecting both of our decks) and was met by three Newport cops and two sheriffs with all their weapons drawn, screaming at me. For about three seconds, I thought I was done. I prayed that none of these guys had an itchy trigger finger. They took me down, cuffed me, then went and searched my place.
After they secured the area, then started questioning me. Even though I had no weapon, and wasn't cut anywhere, they still treated me as a suspect. My brother is a cop, so I do understand why, they were doing their jobs. When they let my neighbor back in her place, she saw me, and said "Why have you cuffed him?? He's my neighbor, he didn't do this." After questioning her, they let me go.
Strangely, they let me back into my place, even though the guy was still loose. Turns out, he broke into a vacation house next door and the cops sat and waited for him to come out the next morning. I woke up to "GET DOWN, GET DOWN, GET DOWN ON THE GROUND!!!". They arrested him, where by he told them that someone else was in there. Then the swat team showed up and I was forced to leave. They were their for around eight hours, until they got permission to search the place. Nobody was in there.
In the end, this coast is a remote area, and is very dark at night. If he was hiding out in a place, he could have easily move around at night. He could be anywhere by now.
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Are you kidding? Where's your geographic data?
Lincoln county should have land records for all houses. You can do a simple computer query to find out how many houses are within a certain distance of the search area in about 30 seconds.
If you want I can manually count the houses on Google Earth in 10 minutes or so. Sounds like the law enforcement agencies involved are big on guns and small on brains...
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That's all well and good, but the manpower required in this area is just not there. A lot of folks not familiar to this area don't realize how remote an area it is. The population of Waldport, OR is around 2000 people. And that's mostly in summer. It's around 15 miles between Waldport and Newport, which is sparsely populated in between (again, mostly in summer). To the east of the whole area is nothing but coast range forest. There is a whole lot of nothing, and many places to hide.
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My comment was directed at the local police chief earlier in the show. He was directly asked how many houses were in the search area and said " I don't know...nobody seems to know." They had several days to figure it out when it could have taken minutes. Somebody in some agency could have taken 5 minutes to do SOMETHING regardless of how "remote" Waldport is.
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Also, I didn't realize it before, but I know Officer Dodds and his daughter from seeing them at the Newport Rec Center working out all the time. He was a high energy, nice guy. In really good shape. Will has a whole lot with pulling through something like this, and I'm sure he has enough of it.
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I often vacation in Yachats, but don't really know the local history, including that of Waldport. I wonder if Emily Harris could explore this a bit for your listeners. We have heard briefly what kind of community it is--because the questions sort of stop with "it's a small community." Listening to the show, Tony, the cafe owner, obviously has an accent. Who lives in Waldport? Is it la long-standing community of mostly Oregonians? How long has it been a 'quaint resort town" on the way to Florence or other more conventional tourist sites? What is its traditional source of work? Fishing? Just curious about the local history.
Thanks! Linda
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How can I help the community with the funds going into the search? I'd love to give money towards feeding the policemen, for example. Although there are complaints about the amount of money going into the search, he is armed and dangerous, and given the difficulty of the terrain, I think this is very responsible city government action.
Linda
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I really appreciate your productive and sensible comment. It's so exhausting to always hear anger and negativity surrounding these situations.
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I was wondering why this guy is dangerous. Does he have a gun? It seems like you would want more folks out looking for him, rather than everyone hiding away.
In addition, the dog comment earlier got me wondering why they aren't using police dogs to search the area?
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The assumption is that the fugitive shot an officer. Seems dangerous enough, doesn't he? Also, let's assume a firearm because it was a gunshot.
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Thank you, roboturkey.
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Is it possible that he hijacked some car and driver and drove off? Is any local person or car missing?
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our school kids get to practice 'CODE RED' if they elect to go outdoors for recess...one kid told me it was horrible to be smashed together in a pile on the floor.
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They know who he is, so what is his background?
Is he one of those Conservative Republican, Sarah Palin Tea Party following, anti-government NRA supporting, gun nuts?
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This is an absolutely unnecessary comment. And I am a liberal.
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good program.
Interesting blend of citizen concerns , contrasted with the genuine public safety issues involved in catching a fugitive.
Given the real danger and the real crime involved this is great live radio.
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What puzzles me is the lack of information given about what happened after his vehicle hit the spike strip. How many police where there? Did he fire at them? Did they pursue on foot? We heard nothing of this. I just hope it wasn't a couple of out of shape cops who couldn't keep up with him on foot. I have few complaints for police ( I would not want that job), but shouldn't it be a requirement that they have to maintain some level of fitness? Think about how many out of shape cops you see...
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Now I wonder if they should have thought more about where they placed that spike strip because near a residential area sounds like a bad idea to me. Better a rural area, out away from people.
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I just think it's pretty terrible that whenever something like this happens, everyone's Civil rights fly right out the window. Immediately after that cop was shot, the entire surrounding area was turned into a police-occupied zone. Motorists were being stopped & searched, cops were going door-to-door interrogating citizens, schools were arbitrarily placed on criminal lock-down, it just goes on. At this point, what precious little was left of the 4th Amendment no-longer exist. And yet, people just accept it & give their unwavering support to law-enforcement... even as they're being interrogated in their own homes at gun-point.
Ofcourse, police NEVER exorcise such zeal in catching criminals whenever someone else falls victim to a violent crime. Only when one of their "own" is shot, do police act this way. And yet, everyone just kind of accepts it.
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I would just like to express how nice it is to hear from a community who doesn't disrespect the police force. It was very apparent on the show this morning which callers were calling from Portland. They ALL expressed in some way that they, as citizens, knew how this situation should have been handled better than the officials actually handling the case. This is a very Portland sentiment which is extremely tiring. The citizens of Waldport were represented as "expressing concern for the condition of [the wounded officer]." If this had happened in Portland, many would likely exhibit bemused approval, or even indifference, that an officer had been shot for once (instead of shooting a person who was posing a threat to society). Thank you, Waldport for your appreciation of those who really do put their lives on the line in order to intelligently manage these dangerous situations. Your old-fashioned respect and groundedness is much appreciated by this weary Portland dweller!
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I used to think that Think Out Loud was in the tradition of Brian Lehrer's excellent show on WNYC, but, alas, today I saw that it is still in the bush leagues, more like the NY Post than the NY Times.
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I would just like to express how nice it is to hear from a community who doesn't disrespect the police force. It was very apparent on the show testking this morning which callers were calling from Portland. They ALL expressed in some way that they, as citizens, knew how this situation should have been handled better than the officials actually handling the case. This is a very Portland sentiment which is ccda extremely tiring. The citizens of Waldport were represented as "expressing concern for the condition of [the wounded officer]." If this had happened in Portland, many would likely ccie exhibit bemused approval, or even indifference, that an officer had been shot for once (instead of shooting a person who was posing a threat to society). Thank you, Waldport for your appreciation of those who really do put their lives on the line in order ccna to intelligently manage these dangerous situations. Your old-fashioned respect and groundedness oracle certification is much appreciated by this weary Portland dweller!
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I'm observing all this from the bizarre perspective of having known David Durham years ago (yeeeaaars ago - we're talking 7th grade for me, 8th grade for him!) and wondering what went wrong. While we weren't the closest of friends I remember really appreciating him cause it was a catholic school and I wasn't catholic and this kid was very kind compared to some of the kids who viewed me as an outsider. I don't think he was necessarily trying to be helpful but I just remember his personality being warm, friendly and easygoing. I wasn't used to the concept that a boy could really be a friend. For many years after my one year in a Catholic school (!) I always remembered him fondly and appreciatively for that when I eventually forgot most of the other kids. I know a lot can happen in, oh, let's see, 30 years! Including camo, apparently (is there a rolling eyes emoticon somewhere around here?!) but I can't help but wonder how that boy turned into this man. I wonder greatly about the mental health piece of this (and yes guns). I feel so terrible for this police officer...and yet - nuts as this sounds - I keep finding myself imagining that everyone in Waldport is safe (not true, I know, obviously) cause I imagine he's a good guy deep down who's terrified and mortified but that's ridiculous I know. I keep slipping into seeing it through a 7th-grader's eyes and wanting to believe something just went very, very wrong in that moment - on that day. And if he hadn't had a gun?? It all comes back to paranoid people and their guns, doesn't it? As a mother of 3 boys who are surrounded by friends who have huge toy guns and who has given in to having toy guns in the house...I wonder where this obsession with guns (and camo in some boys' cases) starts. And maybe that's not relevant. Sorry for processing more than contributing, folks!
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Officer Dodds is a hero, wounded in the line of duty. By the grace of God, he's still around.
We are surrounded by everyday heroes. In the course of my life, I've got to ride along with cops, and saw how they put their lives on the line.
My roommate's grandfather gave his life to save his wife, in Tucson. When they were visiting here in July, they seemed like ordinary folk, lovable and good people. Not until this did I realize that Dory Stoddard was an American hero, and his wife Mave set the tone of forgiveness and forbearance in the wake of this mindless public shooting. Then, eleven law enforcement heroes were shot in a 24-hour period. Yeah, I'm concerned. Yeah, I'm involved. My dog in this fight is my right to free and peaceful assembly. Oh, and I have an only daughter, about to be married this summer. If her safety is ever threatened, my wrath will be psychotic, terminal, and with maximum prejudice. Ugly and unforgiving. Worst of all, imaginative. I'm not at my best as a human being, when I think about protecting my daughter from the .... screwloose ... mentally ill who are armed. With high-cap clips. Afraid that even after hearing the Dalai Lama speak in Portland, I'm with Torquemada on this one. Do not harm my child. Do not harm people in a Safeway parking lot. Violate this rule, and pay the price. In pain, Jared. My roommate and his grandmother have forgiven you. Not me, pal. I want you to catch cancer. If you die screaming for a sip of water, Geoff Taylor is going to laugh out loud. Sorry. Or i should be, maybe.
My dear friend in Portland told me that she lost a good friend, a federal judge, on that very day. What are the odds that this mass shooting would affect me personally, from two degrees of separation? I live in Nowhere, OR.
However, maybe I can help to turn things around. In the words of Jeff Lebowski, "This aggression will not stand." I intend to oppose it.
Geoffrey Taylor/ Summit OR
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Comments are now closed.
I live far from Waldport, but the story you’ve posted impressed me a lot! I had similar situation in my own life… That happened when we had a rest with friends in a forest with tents. A police officer came and told that somewhere round was a hiding criminal, so it’s better for us to leave. Of course we took our equipment and left, but those events impressed me so much that after returning I even wrote a custom essay about all that!