ASHLAND, Ore. – A man driving with a child in his car hit and killed a homicide suspect who started shooting at his car on Interstate 5 early Saturday morning, according to the Jackson County Sheriff's Office.
Investigators said the suspect, 50-year-old Neal Norman, of Pacific Grove, Calif., was driving to Oregon to visit a relative but ran out of gas near Callahan's Lodge in Ashland. Norman went into the lobby to use the phone and then went back outside to his car. He came back into the lodge with a rifle, went into the kitchen and shot and killed the cook, 40-year-old Ryan Bagley, of Ashland. Norman then drove away in Bagley's station wagon.
Norman drove Bagley's car about six miles south on Interstate 5, parked in the middle of the freeway, got out of the car with the rifle and waited for oncoming southbound traffic, detectives said.
The first vehicle to approach Norman was a Ram pickup truck. The driver, 49-year-old Thomas Moxon, of Eagle Point, was driving with his son. Moxon stopped his truck and Norman started shooting, hitting the truck at least three times. Moxon then drove forward and hit Norman with his truck, killing him, police said.
Police said Moxon drove to a safe location and called 911 at 6:54 a.m. Sheriff’s deputies and Oregon State Police troopers found the suspect dead at the scene. A gun was found on the ground near his body.