Suspect arrested in Trail area shooting
Jackson County Sheriff’s Office detectives are piecing together the circumstances behind a Sunday night shooting in the Shady Cove area that culminated with a woman being rushed to a nearby hospital with gunshot wounds after flagging down firefighters for help.
Robert Carl Baker, 34, is in the Jackson County Jail on felony assault charges surrounding a shooting in the 1500 block of Highway 227 in Trail.
The investigation began about 5:15 p.m. Sunday, when a woman with a “severe” gunshot wound flagged down a Jackson County Fire District No. 4 fire engine, according to a news release from the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, and an affidavit filed by police in Baker’s case.
Police described the wound as a 3- to 4-inch laceration that exposed bone and contained metal fragments “consistent with buck shot” from a shotgun.
Firefighter-paramedics rendered aid, and a Mercy Flights ambulance transported her to a nearby hospital. On Monday afternoon, police said the victim was in stable condition.
A woman who was with the victim told police that the shooting stemmed from a dispute over a vehicle at Baker’s property. The women told police they believed the vehicle belonged to their mutual friend, not Baker.
When one of the women approached the vehicle that evening at 1583 Highway 227, she told police, Baker began “hitting on her” and attempting to prevent her from taking the car back.
The witness allegedly told police that “during this incident a ‘naked girl’ ... exited the residence holding a ‘big shotgun,’” according to the police affidavit. She told police that Baker "ripped“ the gun out of the woman’s hands and ”pulled off a round.“
The shooting victim allegedly corroborated the witness statement. The victim told police that when the naked woman refused Baker’s instructions to shoot, he took the gun from her and shot her.
Baker allegedly told police after he’d been read his Miranda rights that the woman he shot had struck him multiple times with a bat in the head and shoulder after trying to take his vehicle. Police, however, stated in the affidavit that Baker did not “present any visible injuries.”
Baker allegedly denied shooting the round that struck the victim, telling police his girlfriend “was holding the gun during the first shot, but he did not see her shoot because she was standing behind him,” the police affidavit stated.
On Monday afternoon, Baker made his initial court appearance in Jackson County Circuit Court on felony charges of first- and second-degree assault, two counts of unlawful use of a weapon and misdemeanor counts of menacing and recklessly endangering another person.
At the hearing, Judge Laura Cromwell set bail at $100,000 and ordered Baker not to possess firearms and not to contact or attempt to contact the alleged victims in the case.
Baker remained in the Jackson County Jail Tuesday morning.
Reach web editor Nick Morgan at 541-776-4471 or nmorgan@rosebudmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MTwebeditor.