Sutherlin man who shot intruder claims self-defense
SUTHERLIN, Ore. (AP) - A man who shot an intruder on a couch inside his Southern Oregon home told police he and his wife he acted in self-defense, according to a court document.
Keith Cramer, 34, told police, "He beat me up, so I shot him. This is my house. He's an intruder," according to the affidavit officers submitted for a warrant to search the house.
Nobody has been arrested, and the case is expected to go to a grand jury.
According to police accounts, Cramer's wife, Christy, summoned him from a bar shortly before the 3 a.m. shooting June 19 because she had found the man, Michael Smith, asleep on the couch, police said.
After the shooting, two Sutherlin police officers entered the home and found the 35-year-old Smith.
He was "lying on his side with his feet propped up on the couch, facing the center of the living room," according to the search warrant affidavit filed in court Tuesday.
He appeared to have been shot in the upper chest, according to the affidavit. Police believe Cramer used a high-powered hunting rifle.
Police said Cramer and Smith both had been at the same bar that night, Vera's Tavern, but initial reports indicated they did not know each other.
When the Cramers returned to their home, the affidavit said, Christy Cramer followed her husband into the home to get a phone while their daughter waited in the car.
According to the affidavit:
Christy Cramer told police she heard her husband shouting something to the man on the couch.
She walked outside and called 911, heard more yelling, then a gunshot.
She went back inside the house and asked her husband what happened. She told police her husband replied that he'd shot Smith in self-defense.
Keith Cramer then called 911.
Police arrived seven minutes after the initial 911 call, weapons drawn.
They found Christy Cramer and a neighbor waving them over.
Keith Cramer then stepped outside with the rifle, which he propped against the side of the house.
Police detained him, at which point he explained that he'd shot an intruder.
On Monday, Cramer's attorney, Danny Lang, said Smith had made "sudden aggressive movements" toward his client before the shooting and that Cramer feared for his own safety and his family's safety.
Relatives and friends of Smith say he was an Alaska resident in Sutherlin to care for his dying mother.
Smith, who was a cook in Alaska, is survived by two children and his wife, according to friends and family.
An autopsy was conducted, but the results have not been released. Toxicology tests results could take several weeks.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
