Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office deputies tracked down a woman wanted on murder charges Monday when she tried to steal a car after breaking into a home and pulling a gun on a mom who was able to escape into a bathroom with her children.
Before that, the murder suspect was with a Madras man when he stole a Ford Ranger truck at gunpoint and tried to shoot the truck owner’s girlfriend when she tried to stop them on a dirt road.
Sgt. Jayson Janes released the new arrest details Tuesday from a wild series of events near Smith Rock a day earlier.
The incident started around 10:50 a.m. Monday when someone called 911 to report a shooting east of Redmond. The caller reported the suspects were 21-year-old Thomas Cross and 21-year-old Jenna Campbell and they were driving a blue and black Ford Ranger pickup.
Janes said detectives learned Cross stole the truck at gunpoint, but no other information has been released.
The truck owner’s girlfriend later saw Cross and Campbell and thought something was wrong because her boyfriend wasn’t in the truck.
She used her vehicle to try and block the truck on a dirt road, Janes said.
She reported that Cross shot at her after she blocked him in. After Cross and Campbell left the area she called 911.
Authorities had been searching for Campbell since she was named a suspect in a fatal shooting December 16th in Madras.
Janes said a deputy spotted the truck in the area of NE 33rd and NE Oneil Hwy.
The deputy tried to stop the truck, but it took off to elude the deputy, Janes said.
The deputy chased the vehicle for a few minutes but stopped due to safety concerns for the public.
Janes said the deputy then found the Ranger crashed in the area of NE Wilcox and NW Lambert Road, but nobody was inside.
Cross was contacted while walking down a nearby road and was arrested without incident.
He’s was taken to jail on numerous charges including second-degree assault, felon in possession of a weapon, first-degree robbery and unlawful use of a weapon.
Campbell meanwhile was seen running in the area of NE Vaughn Avenue and later went into a home on Vaughn Road, Janes said.
Detectives determined Campbell had broken into the home and pointed a gun at the woman inside.
The woman was able to get away and lock herself and her children inside a bathroom, Janes said.
Campbell then left the home and tried to steal a vehicle in the driveway, Janes said.
Deputies then arrived and arrested her.
Both were turned over to the Tri-County Major Incident Team which is investigating the shooting.
During a search of the area deputies located two firearms. One of the firearms had been reported stolen out of the City of Redmond.
This case is being reviewed by the Deschutes County District Attorney’s Office, and further charges on Campbell are likely.
