Police say a Nampa man is in the hospital with wounds sustained by shooting himself after an early-morning traffic stop led to shots being fired by an Ontario Police Officer.
Malheur County Sheriffs Office deputies requested backup from Ontario Police officers while conducting a traffic stop in Ontario Thursday night.
An Ontario officer started to speak with a front-seat passenger of the vehicle when police say the door opened and the subject was armed with a handgun.
Officials say the officer fired a least one round. However, the number of rounds shot and if the suspect fired back is still under investigation. Police say they do not believe the suspect was injured in the police shooting.
Police say the suspect and the driver of the vehicle ran from police after the shots were fired.
The driver was later identified as 32-year-old Irene Enedelia Pena of Nyssa. She is currently being sought by police for questioning.
The armed suspect was later identified as Heriberto "Eddie" Ortega, a 19-year-old of Nampa.\
Officials say Ortega had forced his way into an apartment, allowing the two residents to escape unharmed. Officers contained Ortega inside the residence and were able to establish phone contact with him around 11:26 p.m.
Oregon State Police say they spoke to Ortega for a total of three hours, trying to encourage him not to harm himself or others and to surrender peacefully. Police say several gunshots were heard over the course of the suspect's time inside the home, fired by Ortega from inside the residence, prompting officers to fire a round at the apartment. Officials say the shots did not result in injury to the suspect or any officers.
Officials say they continued trying to convince Ortega to come out unarmed. At 2:14 a.m., another shot was heard from inside the residence. After a few moments of trying to re-establish contact, police believed Ortega might have injured himself.
The Malheur County Sheriff's emergency action team forced entry into the residence where Ortega was found to have a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head and several shell casings near his body.
Ortega was later transferred to a Boise-area hospital, and as of the most recent update, remains in critical condition.
The initial shooting by an Ontario officer at the traffic stop is still under investigation by Oregon State Police, as well as an internal investigation by the Ontario Police Department.
