CLACKAMAS, Ore. — Three people and a dog are dead in a shooting investigation that unfolded Wednesday morning with crime scenes in both Multnomah and Clackamas counties, according to a statement from the Multnomah County Sheriff's Office (MCSO).
Deputies responded shortly before 4 a.m. to a home on Southeast Cottrell Road in east Multnomah County, northeast of Boring. At the property, deputies found the bodies of a man, a woman and a dog. All of them had been shot, the sheriff's office said.
It is being investigated as a double homicide. The victims are identified as Brian Lee Rolen, 46, and Diane Marie Psaros, 43, in a Thursday news release. The suspect involved, who subsequently took his own life, is identified as 54-year-old Lawrence Nathan Peters.
Court documents indicate Peters and Psaros were going through a contentious divorce and were previously business partners.
With concerns that there might be more victims or a suspect nearby Wednesday morning, deputies began to search the property. Gresham police provided a drone with thermal imaging capabilities to fly over the area, and deputies asked Portland dispatch to issue a reverse-911 call to homes in the area, asking neighbors to shelter in place during the search.
The search did not turn up anyone else, MCSO said, and they lifted the shelter-in-place order about an hour and a half after it was issued.
Investigators from the multi-agency East County Major Crimes Team responded to take charge of the investigation at the Cottrell Road property.
"It's not a good thing," said Pete Summers, who lives on Cottrell Road.
He said his son lives next to where the victims lived.
"I had met them several times," said Summers. "They were nice people, so I haven't a clue as to what might have happened."
Roughly 17 miles away, around 8 a.m. that morning, a deputy with the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office tried to stop the driver of a white Ford utility van in Clackamas for a traffic violation. The driver, Peters, refused to stop, MCSO said, leading to a brief pursuit.
Near Southeast 131st Avenue and Southeast Comanche Court, the van driver stopped. Deputies reported hearing a gunshot from inside the van.
Members of the Clackamas County SWAT and crisis negotiation teams responded, as deputies believed that the driver was armed. But when SWAT officers neared the van, found that the driver was dead. According to MCSO, the man was the only person inside the van.
Investigators later determined that the van driver was connected to the investigation on Southeast Cottrell and "those involved knew each other."
The investigation kept Southeast Cottrell closed between Southeast Bluff Road and Southeast Carpenter Lane for several hours. MCSO said that no deputies fired their weapons during either incident, nor were any deputies harmed.
Sheriff's offices in both counties will be working together as the investigation proceeds, MCSO said, and there is no continuing threat to public safety.
