SCAPPOOSE, Ore. — The sheriff of Columbia County was one of two law enforcement officers directly involved in a deadly shootout with a suspect at a tow yard near Scappoose last week, authorities revealed on Tuesday.
According to the Washington County Sheriff's Office, Sheriff Brian Pixley was one of two officers placed on "critical incident leave" after the shooting on March 31. The other was Sergeant Chad Drew, an 18-year veteran of Oregon State Police (OSP).
Information released by law enforcement late last week indicated that officers from the Columbia County Sheriff's Office (CCSO) and OSP responded shortly before 10 a.m. to reports of a disturbance at Grumpy's Towing, along Columbia River Highway just outside of Scappoose.
The suspect they confronted at the scene, 39-year-old Michael Stockton, was wanted for murder in the March 27 shooting death of 25-year-old Timothy Fowlkes near Northeast Halsey Street and 192nd Avenue at Money Saver Mini Storage.
It is not clear if the responding officers in Columbia County were at all aware of Stockton's status as a suspect in the previous shooting at the time that they arrived at the scene on Thursday, and investigators have since said that the shooting was "unrelated" to the Gresham investigation.
According to the Washington County Sheriff's Office, Stockton fired multiple shots at the officers, both of whom returned fire, killing him. Neither officer was injured.
Following the shooting, investigators reportedly found that Stockton had two guns in his possession.
Brian Pixley first joined the CCSO in 2003, though he served a stint as an officer with the Scappoose Police Department between 2006 and 2010. He returned to CCSO as a deputy in 2010, and was elected sheriff in 2019.
The Washington County Major Crimes Team is leading the investigation into the police shooting.
