Child Rescued After Dramatic Police Shootout With Father in Oregon

Oregon State Police (OSP) released footage on May 13 of a dramatic April 10 shootout during which a child who’d been kidnapped by their father in Klamath Falls was rescued.

The father was killed in the shootout, and one officer was injured, local media reported.

The father was named in a police statement as Matthew Brennon Goff, and local media named the injured officer as OSP Trooper Kameron Gordon.

The Herald and News said deputies from the Klamath County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report indicating that a male was trying to take his children on April 10. When they arrived at the scene, officers were informed that the suspect had left with a six-year-old child in a vehicle, was possibly intoxicated, and had an AK-47 rifle.

The suspect’s vehicle was observed by an OSP trooper a short time later. A pursuit began on Hwy 97.

Deputies deployed a spike strip on Highway 97 and the vehicle was brought to a stop. The driver exited the vehicle and fired at least 36 rounds at the officers, the police statement said. Law enforcement returned fire.

Trooper Gordon was injured during the exchange of fire, and the suspect was pronounced dead at the scene. The child was unharmed.

On April 30, the Klamath County District Attorney’s Office said a grand jury found all the officers involved were cleared of wrongdoing.

In this video, body-worn and dashboard-mounted camera footage shows events from April 10. At the end, the child can be seen carried from the vehicle by Oregon State Police after the shootout. Credit: Oregon State Police via Storyful