The small Marion County, Oregon town of Turner (population 1,887 as of 2012) rarely ends up in regional/national news, but an awful crime placed Turner in the headlines on November 23, 2013. The Oregonian reported:
Turner woman shot dead, her 2-year-old daughter rescued after overnight hostage standoff
A 2-year-old girl is safe after being held hostage overnight by a man who allegedly shot and killed her mother in front of police late Friday outside a Turner apartment building, authorities said.
After negotiations proved futile, a Salem SWAT team stormed an apartment and rescued the child on Saturday morning. Dustin Michael Bryant, 24, is in custody with various charges pending, police said Saturday morning.
The dramatic hostage standoff in the small town south of Salem began about 9:30 p.m. Friday, as two police officers investigated a domestic-disturbance call at the complex in the 7300 block of Third Street SE.
When the officers encountered Bryant and his girlfriend, Adrian Nicole Bird, 23, descending a set of stairs, they tried to speak to the couple but the man immediately drew a handgun and fired off several shots, said Don Thomson, a Marion County Sheriff's spokesman.
Both officers took cover and did not return fire, Thomson said.
As Bird tried to run away from Bryant, he opened fire on her, police said. She fell to the ground bleeding. Bryant then ran up the stairs and barricaded himself in a second-story apartment with the woman's 2-year-old daughter.
Marion County Sheriff's deputies and tactical response teams from sheriff's office, Salem police and Oregon State Police showed up to assist the Turner officers. As they set up a perimeter around the building in freezing temperatures, the woman was pronounced dead at the scene, Thomson said.
Salem police and Marion County hostage negotiators spent several hours talking and texting with Bryant trying to convince him to release his hostage, Thomson said. Residents of the apartment complex were evacuated.
Bryant held the child hostage in the apartment for eight hours, police said.
At 5:30 a.m. Saturday, with negotiations going nowhere, the Salem SWAT team made a tactical entry into the apartment and took the suspect into custody and swooped up the child, police said.
Bryant suffered a minor injury during his arrest and was treated at Salem Hospital before being booked into the Marion County Jail. He was being held on a parole violation, with felony charges in connection with Bird's shooting death pending, police said.
This wasn't the first time police have been called to intervene in a domestic dispute between Bryant and Bird. In fact, in September, Bryant pleaded guilty to a second-degree kidnapping charge involving Bird, receiving a sentence of 36 months probation, court documents show. He has an extensive criminal record, including multiple felony convictions for theft and burglary.
Police are not releasing the name of Bird's 2-year-old daughter, who is in the custody of family members who responded to the scene. The names of the officers involved in the incident are also being withheld for now.
News researcher Lynne Palombo contributed to this story.
Article written by Joseph Rose, Oregonian
This apartment complex is, to my knowledge, the only multi-unit rental property in Turner as most Turner residents are homeowners. It is located a block south of the Turner Police Department and Post Office. Ms. Bird is interred at the historic Lee Mission Cemetery in Salem.