Members of the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force with assistance from the Wheeler County Sheriff’s Office located a suspect in Fossil on Wednesday afternoon who was wanted for murder.
US Marshals setup a stakeout at the high school to surveil the suspect, who was wanted in connection with a recent shooting in the Portland area. According to Sheriff Mike, the suspect was taken into custody without incident and there is no danger to the public.
Fossil Charter School Superintendent Jim Smith said that a staff member noticed a vehicle in the parking lot of Wheeler High School at approximately 3:10 PM. The vehicle was backed into a parking spot for several minutes but nobody exited the vehicle. Smith and another staff member approached the vehicle and a US Marshal told Smith and the faculty member that they were federal agents and were looking for a fugitive. The Marshals said that they had learned that the suspect had visited the Fossil Mercantile between 2 PM and 6 PM the previous day.
Superintendent Smith promptly put the school into lock-down and helped to send children home on buses and worked with parents to pickup kids from the school.
Superintendent Smith said that at approximately 4 pm, eight federal agents moved-in on a house that is near to the Wheeler Co. Fair Grounds and made the arrest.
At 7 pm, Sheriff Mike Smith told The Times-Journal that the suspect was in custody at the Wheeler County Courthouse and was being interviewed by federal agents. Sheriff Smith said that the suspect would be transported to NORCOR this evening.