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OFF PAGE ONE WOLF: The hunter said the wolf ran straight at him Page 8A East Oregonian Continued from 1A the agency did not request a necropsy because the cause of death — gunshot — was known. Niemeyer said the hunter’s account of taking a “snap shot into a ball of fur” is unlikely. “I have to tell you I doubt the story,” he said. Niemeyer, 70, said he has hunted predators for 52 years as a government hunter and a taxidermist, and has dealt with fellow sportsmen and shooters for decades. “I’ve heard every story,” he said. “This story is very suspect to me.” The elk hunter, Brian Scott, 38, of Clackamas, told Oregon State Police that the wolf ran straight at him. Scott told police he screamed, took quick aim and fired his 30.06 rifle once. Scott said he saw nothing but fur in the rifle’s scope as the wolf ran at him, according to published reports. In an interview with outdoor writer Bill Monroe of The Oregonian/Oregon Live, Scott said he was terrified. “People envision this jerk hunter out to kill anything, but that’s not me,” he told Monroe. “It frustrates me they don’t understand. I’m a meat hunter. I was looking for a spike elk. This wasn’t exciting. It ruined my hunt.” Scott told Monroe he didn’t think he had time to fire a warning shot. He could not explain the bullet’s path, which entered the wolf’s right shoulder and exited the left, other than perhaps the wolf turned at the last instant or the bullet deflected. Niemeyer, the retired wildlife biologist, said wolves will “turn around and take off” when they realize they’re near a human. Niemeyer said he had “many, many close encounters with wolves” while doing trap- ping, collaring and other field work for USFWS in Idaho, Oregon and elsewhere. He said wolves sometimes ran at him and approached within 6 to 8 feet before veering away. Wolves are potentially dangerous, he said, “but all my experience tells me it would be fearful of a human.” People in such situations should stand up if they are concealed, show themselves, and yell or throw things, Niemeyer said. Hunters could fire a shot into the ground or into a tree and “scare the hell out of them,” he said. “That would have been the first logical thing to do,” he said. “The gunshot and a yell from a human would turn every wolf I’ve ever known inside out trying to get away.” He also suggested people venturing into the woods should carry bear repellent spray, which certainly would also deter wolves, cougars or coyotes. “If everyone shoots everything they’re afraid of, wow, that’s not a good thing,” he said. Niemeyer acknowledged his reaction is based on years of experience with wolves. “People say, ‘That’s easy for you to say, Carter, you worked with wolves for 30 years and you’re familiar with their behavior,’” he said. The shooting happened Oct. 27 in ODFW’s Starkey Wildlife Management Unit west of La Grande. Scott told police he was hunting and had intermit- tently seen what he thought might be coyotes. At one point, two of them circled off to the side while a third ran at him. Scott said he shot that one and the others ran away. Scott went back to his hunting camp and told companions what had happened. They returned to the shooting scene and concluded the dead animal was a wolf. The hunter then notified state police and ODFW, which investigated. Police later found a shell casing 27 yards from the wolf carcass. The Union County district attorney’s office reviewed the case and chose not to file charges. The Portland-based conservation group Oregon Wild raised questions about the incident. Rob Klavins, Oregon Wild’s field represen- tative in Northeast Oregon, said he’s seen wolves in the wild several times and backed away without trouble or harm. Even the late OR-4, the fearsome breeding male of the infamous Imnaha Pack in Wallowa County, retreated and barked when it encoun- tered Klavins and a hiking party. “This (hunter) may have felt fear, but since wolves returned to Oregon, no one has so much as been licked by a wolf, and that’s still true today,” Klavins said. “What has changed is we now have wolves on the landscape, 10 years ago we didn’t,” Klavins said. “Espe- cially in the fall (hunting season), armed people are going to be out encountering wolves.” Oregon Wild believes poachers have killed several Oregon wolves, and USFWS on Monday offered a $5,000 reward for information about a collared wolf designated OR-25 that was found dead Oct. 29 near Klamath Falls. Klavins said wolf shooters might now use a “self-de- fense” claim as a “free pass to poaching.” ROBOT: Strong enough to pull a person across the gym floor Continued from 1A how to drive the machines, which are operated by remote control. “Our motto is ‘start remote, stay remote,’” said Sgt. Karl Farber, explaining to the students how robots allow the team to explore suspicious packages or materials, while keeping people away from potential explosives. Even if students don’t use their robotics skills to enter a law enforcement field, Super- intendent Heidi Sipe said she was excited for students to see an example of the types of jobs available to kids with knowledge of the subject. “Their robots are far more sophisticated systems than what we do,” she said. “We’ll let the kids disassemble them and learn, and apply the knowledge to what they work on.” The newer robots are radio-controlled, whereas the old one is controlled by fiber optics. Farber said that is a Staff photo by Jayati Ramakrishnan A Umatilla High School student experiences the strength of the Remotec F6A robot as it pulls him across the floor. little more cumbersome. But students were happy with the older model. “We get to drive it, and make improvements if we want,” said Cheyenne Clark, a seventh-grader at Clara Brownell who works as a programmer on the school’s robotics team. After the assembly, officers let students test out the robots. The Remote F6A is strong enough to pull a person across the gym floor — a feature several Umatilla students had to test out for themselves. Senior Trooper Jerrad Little talked about the training involved to be part of OSP’s explosives team. “The initial school is in Alabama, and it’s a six-week course,” he said. The trainees learn about everything from the robotics of the machines to putting on bomb suits and how circuits work. “It’s a pretty intensive course,” he said. On top of that, there are specific train- ings officers will attend to hone their skills. “Sgt. Farber just got back from a homemade explosives course,” Little said. Turner said the explosives section could get called to a variety of situations. “It could be a suspicious package, or old military ordnances people find in the woods. Old farms will have explosive-type stuff,” he said. Turner said he looks forward to checking back in with the team in a few months to see what they have learned. –—— Contact Jayati Ramakrishnan at 541-564- 4534 or jramakrishnan@ eastoregonian.com SHOOTER: Investigators believe Kelley died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound Continued from 1A said. “I was standing behind a pickup truck for cover. I know I hit him. He got into his vehicle, and he fired another couple rounds through his side window. When the window dropped, I fired another round at him again.” As Kelley sped away, Will- eford said he ran to a pickup truck stopped an intersection and told the driver, “That guy just shot up the Baptist church. We need to stop him.” The driver, Johnnie Langendorff, said he had been driving to Sutherland Springs on Sunday to pick up his girlfriend when a man who’d been exchanging gunfire with Kelley suddenly landed inside his truck. “He jumped in my truck and said, ‘He just shot up the church, we need to go get him.’ And I said, ‘Let’s go,’” Langendorff, a 27-year-old Seguin resident, told The Associated Press on Monday, adding that the ensuing pursuit eventually clocked speeds upwards of 90 mph. Willeford said he and Langendorrf kept a 911 oper- ator advised as the high-speed pursuit continued. He said Kelley ultimately hit a road sign and flipped his vehicle into a roadside ditch. Willeford said he then exited Langendorrf’s pickup, perched his rifle on the rooftop and trained it on Kelley’s vehicle. He then yelled: “Get out of the truck! Get out of the truck!” But Kelley did not move. Langendorff said police arrived about five minutes later. Based on evidence at the scene, investigators believe Kelley died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. “There was no thinking AP Photo/Eric Gay A law enforcement official investigates the scene of a shooting at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, Monday, in Sutherland Springs, Texas. A man opened fire inside the church in the small South Texas community on Sunday, killing and wounding many. about it,” Langendorff said. “There was just doing. That was the key to all this. Act now. Ask questions later.” Asked if he felt like a hero, Langendorff said: “I don’t really know how I feel. I just hope that the families and people affected by this can sleep easier knowing that this man is not breathing anymore and not able to hurt anyone else. I feel I just did what was right.” Though he did not identify Willeford by name, Texas Department of Public Safety Regional Director Freeman Martin said at a news confer- ence Monday that the armed resident who confronted Kelley was toting an “AR assault rifle and engaged” the shooter. Martin later praised Willeford and Langendorff: “The number one goal of law enforcement is to neutralize the shooter. In this situation, we had two good Samaritans who did that for law enforce- ment.” Julius Kepper, Willeford’s next-door neighbor for the past seven years, described Willeford as a gun and motorcycle enthusiast who regularly takes target practice at property out in the country, and has as many as five Harley Davidson motorcycles. “Avid gun collector, a good guy,” Kepper said. Kepper and other neigh- bors said Willeford’s family has been in the Sutherland Springs area for at least three generations, including a father and grandfather who were in dairy farming. Stephen Willeford is married with two grown children and works as a plumber who installs lines on major projects such as hospitals, Kepper said. He called Willeford a “free spirit” sort who loves motor- cycles despite losing both parents to a motorcycle crash when he was a young adult. “It was almost the same spot where they ran (the shooter) off the road,” Kepper said. Kepper said he’s not surprised Willeford would exchange gunfire with the church gunman. Others in the neighborhood would have done the same if they knew what was happening, he said. “Just like everybody else around here. He was just the first one there,” Kepper said. Republican Sen. Ted Cruz on Monday praised Wille- ford’s actions, after talking to law enforcement officials and visiting the church in Suther- land Springs. He lauded the “ordinary citizen” who engaged the gunman. “One individual demon- strated bravery and courage. We need to be celebrating that bravery and courage,” Cruz said. Still, Willeford proved a reluctant hero. “I didn’t want this and I want the focus to be on my friends,” Willeford told The Dallas Morning News for a story published Monday that also confirmed he was the first person to confront Kelley. “I have friends in that church. I was terrified while this was going on.” Tuesday, November 7, 2017 BRIEFLY Trump lands in South Korea to pressure the North OSAN AIR BASE, South Korea (AP) — President Donald Trump arrived in South Korea on Tuesday, beginning a two-day visit centered on pressuring the nation’s neighbor to the north to abandon its nuclear weapons program. Trump has repeatedly struck a hard line against Pyongyang and South Korea will be warily watching him as he is poised to deliver bellicose warnings in the shadow of the North Korea. The president refused to rule out eventual military action against the north and exhorted dictator Kim Jong Un to stop weapons testing, calling the recent launches of missiles over American allies like Japan “a threat to the civilized world and international peace and stability.” “We will not stand for that,” Trump said at a Monday news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. “The era of strategic patience is over. Some people say my rhetoric is very strong but look what has happened with very weak rhetoric in the last 25 years.” Trump landed at an air force base where he was greeted by dignitaries and a 21-cannon salute. He is then poised to travel to visit Camp Humphreys, a military base about 40 miles south of Seoul. U.S. and South Korean officials have said the base visit is meant to underscore the countries’ ties and South Korea’s commitment to contributing to its own defense. Burden-sharing is a theme Trump has stressed ever since his presidential campaign. But he will forgo the customary trip to the demilitarized zone separating north and south — a pilgrimage made by every U.S. presidents except one since Ronald Reagan as a demonstration of solidarity with the South. A senior administration recently dubbed the border trip as “a bit of a cliche” and several other members of the administration, including Vice President Mike Pence, have visited the DMZ this year. And the White House believes that Trump has already made his support of South Korea crystal clear. House tax panel adopts GOP changes after day of bickering WASHINGTON (AP) — After a day of partisan bickering over whether the Republicans’ sweeping tax plan would truly help the middle class, a key House panel on Monday approved late changes. Lawmakers restored the tax exemption for employees receiving child care benefits from their companies, but also put new requirements on a tax credit used by working people of modest means. The House Ways and Means Committee voted 24-16 along party lines to adopt the amendment from its chairman, Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas. The changes were made to the complex GOP tax legislation put forward last Thursday. The vote on the amendment capped a rancorous marathon session in which Republicans and Democrats argued heatedly over the nearly $6 trillion plan. Democrats repeatedly lodged objections to the bill, especially to its limits on prized deductions for homeowners and its repeal of the child adoption credit and the deduction for medical expenses. It was the first of what are expected to be several days of work on the bill, as Republicans drive to push legislation through Congress and to President Donald Trump’s desk by Christmas. Republicans focused on findings by Congress’ nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation that the bill would lower taxes across all income levels over the next several years. Report: Apple revamped overseas operations to find new tax havens (AP) — Apple revamped its overseas subsidiaries to take advantage of tax loopholes on the European island of Jersey after a crackdown on Ireland’s loose rules began in 2013, according to The New York Times and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists . The news outlet and the nonprofit investigative organization cited confidential records that were obtained by the German newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung and shared. The cache of 13 million secret documents came from Appleby, a Bermuda-based law firm that helps businesses and wealthy individuals find tax shelters. The moves came after a U.S. Senate subcommittee found in 2013 that Apple had avoided tens of billions of dollars in taxes by using overseas havens. The paper said Apple has $128 billion in offshore profits not taxed by the U.S. By 2015, Apple had moved the tax home of two Irish subsidiaries to Jersey, a self-governing island in the English Channel, and also made Ireland the tax home of a different European subsidiary. Apple said in response that the reports contained various “inaccuracies.” For instance, the company said its 2015 corporate reorganization was “specially designed to preserve its tax payments to the United States, not to reduce its taxes anywhere else.” The Cupertino, California-based company said it was the largest taxpayer in the world, paying $35 billion in corporate income tax over the last three years, including $1.5 billion in Ireland. It said it pays an effective tax rate of 21 percent on foreign earnings. The Umatilla County Democratic Party Would like to thank Jeanne Atkins, Chair of the Oregon Democratic Party, and all the Volunteers and Donors for their time and generous donations to make our First Annual Dinner and Auction an Outstanding success.
