On Thursday, March 31, 2022, shortly before 10 a.m., the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office and Oregon State Police responded to a disturbance at Grumpy’s Towing, located at 53279 Columbia River Highway in Scappoose. Shortly after arriving, law enforcement officers from the Sheriff’s Office and Oregon State Police were involved in a shooting with 39-year-old Michael Stockton.
Stockton fired multiple shots at the two law enforcement officers to initiate the shooting, and both law enforcement officers returned fire, hitting Stockton. The law enforcement officers rendered aid to Stockton until medical personnel could take over. Medical personnel later determined Stockton was deceased. The Oregon State Medical Examiner will determine the official cause of death after an autopsy is performed.
During the investigation, investigators located two different handguns in Stockton’s possession following the shooting and determined he fired multiple shots in the direction of the law enforcement officers.
The law enforcement officers from the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office and Oregon State Police are currently on critical incident leave. Their names will not be released until after April 4.
Stockton was wanted by the Gresham Police Department for Murder charges related to a homicide earlier this week. The shooting on March 31 is unrelated to Gresham Police Department’s homicide investigation Stockton is associated to.
The Washington County Major Crimes Team is leading the investigation into the shooting that occurred on March 31.
