65-year-old arrested in connection with shooting in West TD
Multiple neighbors heard shots fired on Wednesday, Aug. 17 at 6:12 p.m. when at least three rounds rang out near the corner of Ninth and Bridge streets. Police have arrested George Morton Saling, 65, The Dalles, in connection with the shooting.
By Tom Peterson
A typically quiet neighborhood in West The Dalles rang out with at least three sharp gunshots as a black sports car left the scene on Aug. 17 at 6:12 p.m., according to witnesses and The Dalles Police Log.
There was no mention of injuries in The Dalles or Wasco County Sheriff’s logs.
It definitely shook up neighbors in the 900 block of west Ninth Street just west of St. Vincent de Paul thrift store. A mother was walking her daughter in the near vicinity of the shooting and saw it happen, according to The Dalles Police log.
George Morton Saling, 65, of The Dalles was arrested in connection with the shooting said The Dalles Police Chief Tom Worthy this afternoon, Aug. 18. Saling was lodged at NORCOR on the evening of Aug. 17- the same night of the shooting on charges of attempted assault and unlawful use of a weapon, according to NORCOR lodging records.
Police also recovered a handgun, Worthy said.
He would divulge no further information while the case is being investigated.
According to the log, a driver of a black Dodge Challenger reported that he was fired on while driving through the area and he later parked at The Fort Dalles Museum. He told dispatchers he did not get a good look at the person firing the gun that shot out the window of his vehicle.
One neighbor who is well educated in firearms and lives just several houses from the shooting heard the shots and automatically knew it was gunfire.
“It went pop, pop … pop,” he said, noting it came in the direction of the corner of Bridge and Ninth streets.
He also said he heard an engine revving up just prior to the gunfire.
He went onto his front porch to see a frightened male with a backpack running west down Ninth Street.
Neighbors confirmed the male running with the backpack was a 16-year-old boy who was walking home from marching band practice when the shots were fired. The 16-year-old had nothing to do with the conflict but was, rather, caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, according to his mother.
Police quickly responded to the area without lights or sirens, according to neighbors.
They covered the neighborhood and interviewed multiple people.
One neighbor turned over a video of the corner of Ninth and Bridge streets, which shows a black sports car turning west onto Ninth Street. See below.
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