David Durham Wanted: Ore. Officer Shooting Suspect Is Paranoid, Say Friends
WALDPORT, Ore. (CBS/KOIN/AP) David Durham, the Oregon man accused of shooting and critically wounding a police officer, began to act erratically six months ago, according to his friends, slipping deeper into a depression after a breakup and entertaining paranoid fantasies about being pursued by police.
An arrest warrant was issued Tuesday for the 43-year-old on four counts including attempted aggravated murder. Police said he shot Lincoln City police Officer Steven Dodds and sped away, only stopping when his truck's tires were shredded by spiked strips left by an off-duty deputy.
The gunman fled into the wilderness surrounding Waldport's peninsula, about five miles from Siuslaw National Forest. The search for him entered its third night early Wednesday as 25-member SWAT teams armed with assault rifles searched the area.
Before the shooting Sunday night, state court records showed only minor offenses in Durham's past. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor prostitution charge in Portland in 1999, and had citations for speeding in 2000 and not wearing a helmet on a motorcycle in 1993.
According to CBS affiliate KOIN, Durham's acquaintances knew him as a friendly neighbor on rural Sauvie Island in Portland and avid landscaper who was also a volunteer firefighter. But six months ago, he was moved to "inactive service" within the Sauvie Island Fire District for unspecified emotional problems.
Neighbor Nancy Meyer told NBC station KGW-TV she heard him discuss delusions about aliens and Armageddon.
"He's convinced the police are going to come and get him," Meyer told the TV station. "He's packed his bags, and he's ready to go in case Armageddon happens."
When police recovered his Dodge truck, Newport police Chief Mark Miranda said they found weapons inside.
Dodds remained in critical condition late Tuesday, but friends told Oregon State Patrol Lt. Gregg Hastings that he was alert and improving.
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