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East Oregonian
Man wielding pellet gun, ax
attacks theater; shot by police
ANTIOCH, Tenn. (AP)
— A man with “signi¿cant”
psychological issues who
was armed with a hatchet
and pellet gun unleashed a
volley of pepper spray at
audience members inside a
movie theater Wednesday
before being ¿red at by a
police of¿cer and shot dead
by a SWAT team as he tried
to escape out a back door,
police said.
The attacker, identi¿ed
as Vincente David Montano,
29, of Nashville, was
carrying two backpacks,
one of which hung from his
chest, and he wore a surgical
mask, possibly to protect
himself from the pepper
spray he unleashed in large
amounts during the showing
of “Mad Max: Fury Road,”
Metro Nashville Police
spokesman Don Aaron
said. He said three people
were blasted with the spray
and treated. There were
eight people in the theater,
including Montano, Aaron
said.
As Montano Àed out
the back of the theater
Wednesday, he encountered
a SWAT team and was shot
dead, Aaron said. About two
dozen gunshots could be
heard in a 10-second period
in raw video footage posted
online by WKRN TV.
Aaron said police had
not uncovered a motive, but
he said Montano had been
committed for psychiatric
treatment at least four times,
twice in 2004 and twice in
2007. It wasn’t immediately
clear why he had been
committed or if that commit-
ment was involuntary.
“This individual has
had signi¿cant psychiatric
or psychological issues,”
Aaron said.
He also noted that
Montano had been arrested
in Murfreesboro, Tennessee,
in 2004 for assault and
resisting arrest, and said he
was reported as a missing
person to the Murfreesboro
police
department
on
Monday.
Police initially said that
Montano had been armed
with a gun and that he
exchanged ¿re with the
¿rst responding of¿cer, but
Aaron later Wednesday
identi¿ed the weapon as an
airsoft pellet gun.
“The gun is a very
realistic looking gun that
strongly resembles a semi-
automatic pistol,” he said.
“If someone confronted you
with it, you would think it
was a real pistol. Obviously
an airsoft gun makes noise.
When that initial of¿cer who
confronted him reported that
the gun was aimed at him,
the trigger was pulled, that
of¿cer heard noises. That’s
when the of¿cer ¿red his
weapon at the suspect in that
initial confrontation.”
The violence at the
Carmike Hickory 8 complex
comes about two weeks after
a 59-year-old drifter opened
¿re inside a movie theater in
Lafayette, Louisiana, fatally
shooting two before killing
himself. It also happened
while jurors in Colorado
decide whether the man
who killed 12 and injured
70 others during a theater
shooting in 2012 should
receive the death penalty.
COLLEGE: 2,410 Umatilla, Morrow County
students earned a total of 21,424 credits last year
Continued from 1A
schools.
“We put our funding as
low as we thought we could
to recover our costs,” he said.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if
enrollment went down a little
bit. On the other hand, it’s
still the best deal you can get
for college credits.”
Hermiston School District
Deputy Superintendent Wade
Smith said, however, the
fee increase would have a
“signi¿cant impact” on the
district, which covers the cost
of tuition for students who
qualify for free or reduced-
price meals.
According to information
from BMCC, 408 Hermiston
students participated in
traditional dual credit classes
and 332 participated in credit
by pro¿ciency classes. Smith
said more than half of the
students in the district qualify
for reduced-price meals,
so he estimated the district
would cover about half of
the college credits. At $31
per credit, that would cost the
district more than $100,000.
Smith said one of the
bene¿ts of the program was
being able to target students
who otherwise may never
have taken college classes.
He said, however, the district
may be forced to stop funding
the program, which could
reduce student participation.
“It’s
a
wonderful
program,” he said. “Obvi-
ously it has been an extreme
bene¿t to many kids, but
I’m afraid, without funding
¿nd her 15-year-old middle
child laying in the yard with
family photos, a note and a
pistol near her body.
Eight years later, in
Albuquerque, Patnode sat at
a table with her husband and
reacted with astonishment
to the news she had won
the Kenneth L. MacEachern
Memorial Award. As she
walked to the microphone,
she decided to dedicate the
award to her daughter. She
scrolled to a photo of Devin
on her cell phone and passed
it around the room.
“She was very humble,
very emotional,” said retired
Judge Bill Sutton, a former
winner of the award and
a member of the selection
committee. “It was emotional
for everyone.”
Sutton praised Patnode for
her wisdom, common sense,
compassion, intelligence and
work ethic.
“She also understands
people and uses tough love
when needed,” Sutton said.
“Cris simply gets it.”
After Devin’s death, three
other suicides shook Condon.
Patnode and others spear-
headed a suicide prevention
group called Suicide Aware-
ness for Everyone (SAFE) to
kick the subject into the open.
At a community barbecue,
Patnode talked openly of
her loss while others spoke
of battles with depression
and bullying. Counselors
Continued from 1A
infected with West Nile
since 2009. But with all the
con¿rmed cases in Wash-
ington and a long mosquito
season still ahead, Gerard
said isn’t letting his guard
down.
“I watch what goes on
around us very closely,” he
said. “Obviously, when I
see numbers as high as what
they’re seeing, it does raise
concern for me.”
Hot weather and drought
conditions tend to increase
the transmission rates for
West Nile, Gerard said.
And, as the region’s streams
and rivers slow to a crawl,
the warm, stagnant water
increases breeding grounds
for mosquitoes.
“We’ve had a lot of
sources in the Umatilla River
we don’t typically see,”
Gerard said.
In Morrow County,
mosquito pools have yet
to test positive for West
Nile. Greg Barron, manager
of the North Morrow
Vector Control District in
Boardman, said the district is
actually seeing lower overall
populations after getting an
early jump on their spraying
operations.
“We just have to stay
on top of it,” Barron said.
Eastern Promise, which began in the fall of 2012,
provides a way for students to earn college credits in
high school.
Traditional dual credit classes required high school
teachers to be fully qualified to teach at the college
level, including having a master’s degree, BMCC VP Jim
Whittaker said.
These teachers participated in Professional Learning
Communities with university and community college
content specialists to develop student assessments.
at the ballot box they were
opposed to the legalization
of marijuana,” Murdock
stated.
Election records show
almost 63 percent of Umatilla
County voters in November
2014 opposed Measure 91,
the law that won statewide
approval to legalize recre-
ational marijuana. The 2015
Legislature changed that
law with House Bill 3400,
which allows local govern-
ments to prohibit marijuana
businesses in counties where
at least 55 percent of voters
shot down Measure 91.
Murdock
said
he
applauded the Legislature for
creating the opt out for rural
Oregon. He stressed it was
— Raymon Smith, Echo
School District Superintendent
from the state, it’s going to be
very problematic for us to be
able to offer the same type of
program perpetually.”
Echo School District
covers the credit cost for all of
its students. Superintendent
Raymon Smith said, with
continued community dona-
tions, he believes the district
will be able to continue to do
so. Smith said funding the
credits helps encourage more
students to go to college.
“We don’t want it to
become just the kids that
can afford (college credits)
are getting them,” he said.
“It’s vital that we provide
an avenue for those kids
that don’t have the means.
It really opens the doors for
kids who never thought they
would do anything after high
school except go to work.”
During the last school
year, 29 Echo students earned
164 credits, according to
information from BMCC.
Every high school in
Umatilla
and
Morrow
counties has participated in
the program, Whittaker said,
with 2,410 students earning
a total of 21,424 credits last
school year. He said those
students saved more than
$1.7 million.
Whittaker
said
the
program has been successful
in providing inexpensive
college credits and encour-
aging students to attend
college, and he thinks that
success will continue even
with the price jump..
“I’m excited about the
whole aspect of high school
students having a chance to
¿gure out what college is
about and take real college
classes,” he said. “It’s an
opportunity I would have
loved to have had and didn’t
have.”
talked about warning signs
and shared strategies. The
group later presented in other
communities.
Like Patnode, Sutton
also suffered the loss of a
daughter to suicide, which
increases his admiration for
the judge.
“She took a tragedy and
made it into a testimony,” he
said. “We can learn a lot from
her example of how to react
to tragedy.”
Tiffany
Wilkins,
of
Arlington, wrote a nomina-
tion letter on behalf of her
good friend. She described
Patnode as someone who
“can make you laugh until
you cry,” “is beautiful inside
and out” and is something of
a community whirlwind.
“There is nothing too big
or too small,” she wrote in
her letter. “She has helped me
learn the gift of giving back
and for that I will always be
grateful.”
Patnode ferries between
Condon and Arlington from
the ranch where she lives
with husband Joe and their
youngest daughter. She said
Devin’s death has changed
her.
“It was hard at ¿rst not to
feel robbed,” she said. “But
that didn’t last long. I was
able to turn it around. My
work helped me through and
gave me purpose.”
The tragedy changed how
Patnode saw those who came
into the courtroom.
“Every person who comes
before me is in the midst of
a crisis,” she said. “A lot of
that is self-induced — drug
addiction, alcohol, domestic
violence — but there is an
opportunity to make a better
society with each person who
comes to me.”
Away from the courtroom,
preventing suicide continues
to drive Patnode. She knows
people feel stigmatized about
mental health issues and she
is working to change that
mindset.
“We ¿x our leg if it is
broken,” she said. “We need
to ¿x our mind the same
way.”
That focus is one reason
NJA Executive Director
Candace Hissong approved
Patnode’s selection, made
by past award recipients who
were each mailed copies
of nomination letters. Each
person made their selection,
but didn’t know the outcome
until the banquet except for
Hissong and Sutton. Some
years, the award isn’t given,
they said. But in 2015,
Patnode inspired agreement.
“The MacEachern award
is an award that recognizes
a judge that goes above
and beyond,” she said.
“I’ve known Judge Patnode
since she took the bench
and always found her to be
thoughtful, insightful and
caring.”
———
Contact Kathy Aney at
kaney@eastoregonian.com
or call 541-966-0810.
“We’re doing all of our
usual testing, but so far all
of our tests have come back
negative.”
Tompkins, director of the
nonpro¿t Blue Mountain
Wildlife, said a Àedgling
great gray owl died within
hours of being brought to the
refuge on July 19. Everyone
was a little surprised to ¿nd
out, after testing, the bird
had been infected with West
Nile.
“We didn’t know what
was wrong with it. It
was acting very strange,”
Tompkins said. “There were
no obvious injuries ... We
really couldn’t tell if it was
trauma, something toxic or
disease. That’s why we took
a sample.”
Young birds are espe-
cially susceptible to the
disease, Tompkins said.
She noti¿ed Gerard of the
incident after sample results
came back from Oregon
State University.
According to the Centers
for Disease Control, only
one in ¿ve people infected
with West Nile will show
symptoms. Of those, less
than 1 percent come down
with potentially serious
complications. West Nile
may cause encephalitis, or
inÀammation of the brain.
Melissa Ney, environ-
mental health supervisor
at the Umatilla County
Public Health Department,
said children, the elderly
and those with weakened
immune systems are at the
most risk.
“There’s always the
potential,” Ney said. “The
weather plays a big role in
that, too. The hotter it is, the
more it tends to be trans-
mitted.”
Ney said people should
take precautions to protect
themselves against mosquito
bites, such as using insect
repellent and wearing protec-
tive clothing, especially
at dusk and dawn when
mosquitoes are most active.
People should also
remove sources of standing
water on their property to get
rid of pools where mosqui-
toes can breed.
Those with questions
or concerns should call the
county health department
at 541-278-5432 or their
doctor. To report dead birds
in the area, contact the West
Umatilla Mosquito Control
District at 541-567-5201, or
the North Morrow Vector
Control District at 541-481-
6082.
———
Contact George Plaven
at gplaven@eastoregonian.
com or 541-966-0825.
MARIJUANA: 63 percent of county opposed Measure 91
Continued from 1A
JUDGE: Patnode spearheaded a suicide prevention group
Continued from 1A
WEST NILE: Hot weather increases transmission
Eastern Promise
“We don’t want
it to become just
the kids that can
afford (college
credits) are
getting them.
Thursday, August 6, 2015
OK for Eastern Oregon and
the Portland-metro area to
have different values.
“My neighbors don’t
pride themselves on being
weird,” Murdock said. “In
fact, these same individuals
also don’t line the streets of
Pendleton, Hermiston or any
other local community to
celebrate nude bike rides.”
Murdock also said while
people believe in the merits
of medical pot, he saw no
valid research backing those
claims.
In other action, the
commissioners voted 3-0 to
place ballot drop boxes in
Athena, Pilot Rock, Stan¿eld
and Umatilla. This came in
response to the U.S. Postal
Service closing its distri-
bution center in Pendleton.
Local mail now can take up
to a week to arrive, Murdock
said, so drop boxes in Athena,
Pilot Rock, Stan¿eld and
Umatilla — all cities with at
least 1,000 residents — will
help ensure citizens can vote
on time. He said the county
is working with the cities on
¿nding a secure and public
space for the boxes.
And the board delayed
a vote to allow all-terrain
vehicles on certain roads
in the northeast section of
the county. Some ranchers
and farmers, he said, were
concerned ATV drivers
could ride onto their lands.
Murdock said voting on the
issue now would have been
hasty. Commissioner Bill
Elfering will head up a group
to look at the issue.
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