Suspect, victim identified in fatal shooting in downtown Bend as search continues

Published 1:45 pm Friday, August 11, 2023

Law enforcement officials on Friday released the names of the suspect and victim in a fatal shooting in downtown Bend on Thursday, which they now say followed a fight in a bar that spilled out onto the sidewalk.

The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office is still searching for the “primary suspect” in the shooting, Caleb Joseph Cegers, 20, of Bend. The sheriff’s office issued an alert early Friday morning to dispatch centers nationwide, telling authorities to be on the lookout for Cegers.

Police identified the shooting victim as Taylor Shane Wyss, 33, of Redmond, according to a Friday afternoon press release from sheriff’s Sgt. Jason Wall.

Police also arrested Sadie Madalyn Cole, 21, of Bend, in connection with the incident. Police believe Cole was dating Cegers, Wall said.

Police: Fight preceded shooting

Authorities say a fight occurred inside Duda’s Billiards Bar that night and then spilled out onto the street, Wall said. Police believe the fight occurred after Cegers and Cole were asked to leave the bar because they were being disruptive, Deschutes County District Attorney Steve Gunnels told The Bulletin on Friday.

Minutes before the shooting, police say Cole punched a bartender.

Downtown shooting

Redmond man, 33, shot and killed in downtown Bend early Thursday morning

The shooting occurred in the 1000 block of NW Wall Street downtown, on the sidewalk outside Duda’s and Sidelines Sports Bar & Grill, Gunnels said.

Afterward, Cole helped Cegers leave in a car, authorities say.

Officers responded to the scene just after midnight Thursday and found Wyss on the ground with a gunshot wound, Bend police said. He was shot with a handgun, said Gunnels, who didn’t say how many shots were fired.

Police tried to help Wyss before he was taken to St. Charles Bend, where he later died.

Bend Police arrested Cole at her home in the 64000 block of Hunnell Road at 1:15 a.m. Thursday, said Bend Police spokeswoman Sheila Miller. Cole faces charges of fourth-degree assault, hindering prosecution and second-degree criminal mischief. She may face additional charges, Miller added.

Wall said he couldn’t confirm on Friday if Cegers, Cole or Wyss had been drinking prior to the shooting.

SWAT team deployed for searches

A Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team was deployed and officers searched two properties Thursday evening, but did not find Cegers.

Homicide investigation in downtown Bend

Bend Police ask Tesla drivers to review video footage for clues in homicide investigation

The first search occurred at around 5:30 p.m. in the 19000 block of Astro Place, off Brookswood Boulevard in southwest Bend. A home on that block was listed as the address of Cegers in a drunken driving indictment in April.

The second search occurred around 3 a.m. on Cackler Lane, off Butler Market Road in northeast Bend.

The sheriff’s office is asking anyone with information about Cegers’ whereabouts to call 911.

Wall said in a news release “if any members of the public witness Cegers, do not approach as he is believed to be armed and dangerous.”

The Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office took over the investigation Thursday because a witness is related to Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz, Bend Police said Thursday.

A phone call to Duda’s was not returned prior to press time Friday.

Cegers attended Summit High School in Bend and received his diploma in 2021, according to Bend-La Pine Schools spokesman Scott Maben. Wyss graduated from Mountain View High School in 2009.

Cegers also has a recent history in the criminal justice system.

On Jan. 24, Bend Police said Cegers, then 19, threatened employees at the 7-Eleven on NW Galveston Avenue before leaving in a white Mercedes Benz sedan, according to a news release that day from Miller, Bend Police spokeswoman.

A sheriff’s deputy stopped the sedan about 45 minutes later on suspicion of drunken driving. Bend Police arrested him at around 4 a.m. and booked him in the Deschutes County jail.

At 12:03 p.m. that same day, Bend Police again responded to a report that a person driving a white Mercedes Benz sedan had aimed, cocked and threatened a person with a handgun on Third Street.

Roughly 50 minutes later, another caller told police about a person making a similar threat with a gun at the 76 gas station on NE Third Street.

“Both victims independently provided the same physical description of the man with the gun, who was a stranger to them,” said Miller. Police identified the person as Cegers.

Bend police found Cegers’ car at around 1:39 p.m. in a shopping center on SE Third Street and Reed Market Road. They arrested him around 2 p.m. “without incident,” Miller said.

“The handgun was determined to be a replica,” Miller said.

Cegers pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of menacing and driving under the influence of intoxicants, according to court records.

The latest fatal shooting is the second in recent years to reportedly occur during a fight involving a bar in downtown Bend.

On Sept. 19, 2021, Ian Cranston shot and killed Barry Washington, 22, during a fight outside the Capitol bar, which is around the corner from Duda’s. A jury found Cranston guilty of manslaughter, and he was sentenced to 10 years in prison.