County sees 3rd homicide in 6 days

A 22-year-old woman has been arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of her boyfriend in Klamath Falls early Sunday.

The Klamath County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release that the death marks the third homicide handled by the county’s major crimes team in the past six days.

Officers responded to a report of a shooting at about 12:40 a.m. and found 25-year-old Tyler Balais dead. Police arrested Kassandra Imbert. She has a preliminary hearing today in Klamath County Circuit Court.

A juvenile relative was arrested in the killing of a 74-year-old Keno woman early Saturday.

And last week, a California man was arrested and accused of killing his younger brother in Bonanza. A probable cause statement filed by Oregon State Police says 52-year-old Travis Kimball called 911 to report he stabbed his brother Troy Kimball, and then shot him.

Accidental shooting death

Authorities in southwestern Oregon say a preliminary investigation has determined that a 15-year-old boy handling a firearm died after accidentally shooting himself.

Oregon State Police in a statement Monday say emergency crews responded at about 8:30 p.m. Saturday to a residence near Merlin where they found the boy dead.

Police say the boy lived at the residence and had several friends over while his parents were out of town.

Police say his friends called 911 and began life-saving measures, but the boy died before emergency crews arrived.

Police say several friends might have left before emergency crews arrived, and they want to speak with them as part of the investigation.

Names haven’t been released.

2 women dead 
after fall from bridge

Oregon State Police say two women have died after apparently falling from a bridge on Interstate 5 following a single-vehicle crash.

Police say emergency crews responded at about 2:30 a.m. Monday after the driver and her female passenger called 911 to report the crash north of Myrtle Creek on a bridge crossing the South Umpqua River.

Police say crews arrived and found a 2002 Kia sport utility vehicle but not the driver or passenger.

Police say crews soon after located two woman dead on the riverbank below.

Names haven’t been released.

Police are continuing to investigate.

Salem man drowns 
while hiding from police

Salem Police say a 34-year-old man has drowned after he ran from police following a traffic stop and attempted to hide under a bridge in the water.

The police department says Christopher Free, of Salem, died early Sunday morning. Police say officers tried to negotiate with him for 20 minutes to get out of the water before he submerged. An officer jumped into the water and pulled him out. He died at a local hospital.

An officer spotted a speeding car at about 12:40 a.m. and attempted to stop the driver. As the officer approached the car on foot, the vehicle took off and later crashed. The driver fled on foot and was later found hiding under the High Street bridge.

An autopsy was planned for Monday.

Report: Sheriff didn’t face hostile environment

A newly released report looking into a discrimination complaint filed by Jackson County Sheriff Corey Falls concludes he was not subjected to a hostile work environment.

The Mail Tribune reports Jackson County released the February report after Falls held a news conference last week saying he was treated in a demeaning manner by county officials. Friday was Falls’ last day as sheriff. He resigned to take a job in Gresham.

In December 2015, Falls complained to Jackson County Human Resources that he was treated in an unprofessional, demeaning and discriminatory manner.

Independent investigators hired by the county wrote a preliminary report that found Falls has not been subject to a hostile work place. Falls withdrew his complaint letter, and the report was not released until recently.

Falls told KOBI-TV that the findings are one-sided, sheriff’s employees weren’t interviewed and the manner in which the report was released validates his concerns.

— From wire reports