NORTH PLAINS, Ore. — The brother of a Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue firefighter who was shot and killed in January has been charged with murder and arrested, the Washington County Sheriff's Office announced Monday.
A grand jury indicted Robert Horning on Monday, and he was subsequently arrested and booked in Washington County jail on charges of second-degree murder and unlawful use of a weapon. The Tactical Negotiations Team assisted with the arrest, according to a news release from the sheriff's office, but he was ultimately taken into custody safely.
The shooting happened on the morning of Jan. 2 at Horning's Hideout, an outdoor recreation center and wedding and concert venue in North Plains. Deputies found Carl Horning, 47, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, and he died at the scene. Robert Horning, 63, was detained for several hours but then released.
At the time, the sheriff's office described Robert Horning as a person of interest in the case but did not release any other details about the circumstance of the shooting, and there were no further updates from law enforcement until Monday's announcement of the indictment and arrest.
Carl Horning transferred to TVF&R in 2016 after previously serving for five years as a firefighter and apparatus operator with Washington County Fire District #2. He was promoted to lieutenant in 2023.
The Horning's Hideout website states that Carl and Robert's parents, Richard and Jane Horning, originally bought the property and began the process of converting it to a private park and recreational area. Richard Horning died in 1985, but the rest of the family continued to build out the park.
Last year, Carl Horning and his sister LaDonna Elliot petitioned to establish a conservatorship for Jane Horning. Court documents in the case state that Jane Horning was one of the owners of Horning's Hideout, but was having memory issues and had become caught in a "tug-of-war" between her six children, who were allegedly pushing her toward various and conflicted courses of action regarding the business.
