More to the story--turns out two people defended themselves with guns from this out-of-control maniac.
The Associated Press--11/17/99
Sweet Home, OR: Police say one of two suspects in the killing of a man and the wounding of another later forced his way into several homes near Lebanon while trying to find a getaway car.
Two longtime Sweet Home residents, brother Dean Frederick Pruitt, 53, and John Oliver Pruitt, 54, were shot in their home when two acquaintances entered the house about 7:30 p.m., according to Sweet Home police.
Dean Pruitt died later Tuesday night at Lebanon Community Hospital. John was in critical condition this morning at Good Samaritan Hospital in Corvallis.
Police were combing the mid-valley for Marc Mealey Holcomb, Jr., 28.
Authorities said he was the primary suspect in the shooting and the break-ins. They were also seeking Corey Andrew Burdick, 23, of Sweet Home, for questioning.
After the shootings, Holcomb allegedly went to Lebanon, where he broke into six homes.
The first house was empty, but at another residence, the suspect fired several rounds inside a front door, then confronted a teen-age boy, who was able to lock himself in a room and escape, according to a sheriff's office report.
Then the intruder confronted a 16-year-old boy in another home with his 7-year-old brother. The older boy grabbed a .22-caliber rifle and the shot the man in the chest. Wounded, the man fled and went to two other houses, where he confronted more residents.
He dropped and lost his gun at another home.
Sandra Rabine said at her home she saw a man thrusting his fist through a small window in her back door, trying to get hold of the door knob so he could force his way into the house.
"Get me some help, get me some help," the man screamed.
Rabine tried to get hold of the door knob from the outside so he couldn't force his way into the home.
"I'll get you some help, but you just have to back away from the door," she said. "If you don't, I'll shoot you."
The man passed his 9mm pistol through the opening where his hand had been.
Rabine saw that there was no clip and the gun had no bullets. Through the window, she could see that the man's blue shirt was stained with blood.
Before he gave up his gun, Rabine tried to force him back by beating on his hand with the butt of her 9mm pistol that she had grabbed to protect herself. With her other hand, she dialled 911.
Rabine said she remained calm by talking to herself.
"I just kept telling myself not to panic. I knew I had to do this," she said. "My husband always preached to me to never open the door and I kept remembering that."
When sheriff's deputies arrived, they discovered bloody fingerprints on a porch post and mud and more blood on the front doorbell.
The man later confronted a 72-year-old woman, cut her on the left hand with a pocket knife during a scuffle, then fled in her van.
Police believe that Holcomb has been seriously wounded and is very dangerous.