One of the two men shot and killed in a deer-hunting camp in northeastern Oregon was the foster father of the 14-year-old boy identified as the shooter, authorities said Friday.
Grant County Sheriff Glenn Palmer also said two guns were involved — a hunting rifle and a revolver — and the shootings both occurred around midnight Wednesday, with one victim shot inside a cabin and the other one outside.
Michael Piete, 43, was the foster father of the suspect, whose name has not been released because of his age, authorities said. The other victim was Kenneth C. Gilliland, 64, Both men were from Baker City.
Palmer would not say whether a motive had been established. District Attorney Ryan Joslin has not said whether the boy would be charged. He was expected to recover from accidentally shooting himself in the leg, Palmer said.
After the shooting, the owner of the cabin, located off a logging road just outside the Umatilla National Forest in northeastern Oregon, drove about nine miles to the tiny town of Granite, where he woke someone who called for help.
When deputies arrived at the cabin, they found the boy taped to a chair. Authorities said he had run away after the shootings, but came back after accidentally shooting himself, pleading for help.
Another member of the hunting party held him at gunpoint and taped him to the chair.
The teen was taken by ambulance to a hospital in Baker City then flown with a state police trooper to St. Alphonsus Hospital in Boise. A hospital official refused to confirm he was there or give his condition.
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