UPDATE: The trial was postponed Monday morning indefinitely, according to Jefferson County District Attorney Steve Leriche, who said he was disappointed. The presiding judge for the trial, Annette Hillman, postponed the trial because she was ill, Leriche said. 

If not for a stolen rifle that wouldn’t fire, Rafael Gomez could have been facing multiple homicide charges for his actions a year ago in Madras.

Authorities allege he stole an AR-15 rifle at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds, then led law enforcement officers on a chase through Madras, on his way to a movie theater.

He tried to shoot eight people along the way, but the gun failed because two rounds were jammed together. One witness said he could hear the trigger click, the rifle pointed right at him.

Ultimately, Gomez was brought down by Jefferson County sheriff’s deputies.

Now, a year and several legal delays later, Gomez, 30, is scheduled to go on trial Monday in a city that hasn’t quite forgotten.

He’s accused of attempting to shoot a gas station employee and several members of law enforcement, including Jefferson County Sheriff Jason Pollock.

Gomez, pleaded not guilty last year to a raft of charges that would put him away for more than two decades. However, a new indictment filed July 19 charged Gomez with an additional count of second degree attempted murder, which could hold a lesser sentence than the four counts of attempted aggravated murder he is also charged with, among others.

On July 22, 2022, Gomez, was allegedly peering into cars in a campground adjacent to the annual county fair, which was in full swing, Jefferson County authorities have said. The campground was host to area farmers, ranchers and others showing animals at the fair, so Dan Comingore and Shane Gomes, who were camping there, noticed Gomez right away as suspicious, according to previous reporting by The Bulletin.

They shared a glance, but kept an eye on Gomez.

The two men said they saw Gomez open the door to a green and white Ford pick-up, pull out a long rifle and an ammunition magazine. They ran for their own guns shouting at Gomez and each other.

“He’s got a gun,” Comingore said he yelled to Gomes as Gomez proceeded to load the rifle.

Other men at the fair heard the commotion and joined the two with their own firearms. Eventually, Gomez escaped from a hole in the fence that bordered the campground, and he ran toward U.S. Highway 97.

At the Towne Pump gas station, employee Ken Corbin told The Bulletin that Gomez tried to shoot him.

“He was trying to feed the live rounds into the chamber, but he couldn’t. It was jammed for him,” Corbin said the next day. “I heard it click.”

A deputy shot Gomez in the arm near a Kentucky Fried Chicken along the highway, which the District Attorney’s office later justified. Gomez was treated for his injuries and booked in jail.

It’s still unclear whether Gomez ever fired the rifle.

Had Gomez been able to escape the law enforcement chase and enter the movie theater, restaurants or shops that border U.S. Highway 97, “it is highly likely significant casualties would have occurred,” an August 2022 press release from Jefferson County District Attorney Steve Leriche said.

“Corroborative of this concern is a statement Gomez made while being booked into the jail inquiring whether the media was present at the jail and expressing interest in becoming famous,” Leriche said in the release.

Leriche said the AR-15 used by Gomez was found beside him after he was shot by authorities “with two rounds jammed in the chamber (commonly known as a ‘double feed.’) This double-feed prevented the weapon from firing, and for purposes of this decision is important evidence of Gomez’s intent to fire the weapon that had been pointed at numerous civilians and law enforcement.”

The incident led to the first citation under Oregon’s safe firearm storage law, which went into effect in 2021. Jeremiah Martin, who was 19 at the time Gomez allegedly stole the gun from Martin’s Ford pick-up, was visiting the fair from California. The gun belonged to Martin’s friend, he told The Bulletin Thursday, but because it was in Martin’s unlocked truck, he was cited and had to pay a $165 fine.

Attorney woes

Gomez has cycled through two attorneys, and his trial has been postponed twice. Court documents say Gomez and his first attorney experienced a “complete breakdown of the attorney-client relationship.” He and his second attorney, reached an impasse, documents said.

Gomez’s third and current defense attorney, William Condron, declined to comment on the case.

His case, which is set to go before a 12-person jury in Jefferson County Circuit Court on Monday, was finally given the green light Friday after the district attorney’s office and the defense failed to reach a settlement.

Gomez was a fugitive when he arrived in Madras for crimes committed in San Diego, California. He’s being tried on four counts of attempted aggravated murder, one count of attempted murder in the second degree, nine counts of unlawful use of a weapon, one count of felon in possession of a firearm and theft in the first degree.

The 2023 Jefferson County Fair

The Jefferson County Fair was different this year because of Gomez.

Under new leadership, the Madras Police Department decided to create a formalized emergency plan for the fair. There are now clear evacuation routes, modified fair entrances, complete with security guards, a beefed up law enforcement presence, video cameras and new signs outlining expectations for fairgoers.

“Everything is still very raw,” Madras’ new Police Chief Tim Plummer told The Bulletin.

Sheriff Pollock agreed.

“They remember what happened last year. It’s a small town, Jefferson County,” he said. “Everybody knows everybody so when things happen…”

Plummer noticed in the wake of last year’s fair, which caused chaos and fear for bystanders, that there wasn’t much attention paid to security measures. So, he set out to balance the comfort and safety of fairgoers and the greater community to create a written plan in case something like last year’s incident ever happens again.

“This is one of those areas that it should’ve never happened in,” Plummer said. “But it did.”