A pair of Jackson County, Ore., sheriff's deputies enforcing an eviction notice Tuesday in Ashland killed the homeowner — shooting him at least twice when he displayed a shotgun and failed to follow their instructions, Sheriff Mike Winters said.
The Mail Tribune reports the sheriff said Earl Harris, 74, of 35 Mistletoe Road, had additional weapons strapped to his body, and several weapons, including a pair of grenades, were found inside the house following the shooting.
"Things started off, I would say, fairly well, with conversation being exchanged between deputies and Mr. Harris, and then at some point during that conversation Mr. Harris took us down another path," Winters said. "He was very dissatisfied with the fact that his home was being repossessed."
About a minute into the conversation between Harris and the deputies through the front screen door, Harris retreated into the house and entered a bedroom to retrieve a shotgun, Winters said.
Deputies followed Harris into the house, and when he failed to follow orders to put the shotgun down, they fired four shots, with at least two hitting the man, Winters said.
