Former mayor of Oregon small town sentenced in Halloween 2022 road rage shooting

Published 2:02 pm Monday, October 16, 2023

Dowen Jones, former mayor of the city of Rufus in Sherman County, pleaded guilty to felony charges stemming from an alleged road-rage shooting near Parkdale on Halloween last year.

Sherman County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Jones, who won the small town’s election for mayor with 76 votes in 2018, on suspicion of attempted murder after a family of four reported a driver on state Highway 281 had fired on their car multiple times. The passengers included two children, ages 5 and 8, authorities said.

Jones pleaded guilty to four counts of a lesser charge, attempting to commit a Class A felony, in August. A Hood River County Circuit judge then sentenced Jones to 18 months in prison.

The family was driving south on Highway behind an SUV that was “driving erratically,” according to the Hood River County Sheriff’s Office. The SUV pulled over, and the family stopped to get a closer look at the driver, the sheriff’s office said.

The man, identified last year as Jones, 48, stepped out of the passenger side and fired several shots from a handgun, according to the sheriff’s office.

When Jones was arrested, the city went without a mayor or interim mayor until Jan. 1, 2023, when Austin Evans was elected to the role, according to spokesperson Brenda Coleman.

Jones, an electrician and photographer, was also ordered to pay a $13,000 fine and relinquish his firearms, court records show.

Rufus has a population of 270 people and sits 100 miles east of Portland and 100 miles west of Pendleton.