Botched drug deal led to shooting at Fred Meyer in Salem, police say

A weekend drug deal gone wrong led to a shooting Monday morning in a Fred Meyer parking lot in Salem that left three people injured and a father and stepson charged with attempted murder, according to investigators.

Robert Eugene Josh Jr., 62, and Jamie Eugene Thomason, 30, both of Springfield, were arraigned separately on consecutive days in Marion County Circuit Court, each on multiple charges, including two counts of attempted murder in the first degree.

Josh was being held without bail in Marion County Jail. Thomason was not listed on the jail roster as of noon Friday.

Lead-up to shooting at Salem Fred Meyer parking lot

Details about what led up to a confrontation and shooting in the parking lot near the west entrance of the Fred Meyer on Market Street NE are included in a probable cause statement for Josh's arrest. A probable cause statement is a summary of the evidence and circumstances of an arrest given to a judge to review.

The parking lot is just east of the Market Street exit off Interstate 5, a primary trafficking route through Oregon for local, interstate and international transport of drugs such as heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine.

The occupants of at least two cars were involved, a green Honda Civic, registered to Josh, and a white Nissan Altima, registered to a Sublimity resident not reported to be involved in the incident.

Several hours after the shooting, the white sedan was in a parking space next to a shopping cart corral. Josh's green sedan was parked in front of the Nissan, in a blocking position.

Several 911 callers, including Thomason, reported the shooting at about 7:35 a.m. Monday. Thomason told dispatch he had been shot and that his dad was next to him.

Salem Police officers found two other people with gunshot wounds, a 30-year-old woman and a 28-year-old man, both from the Eugene-Springfield area.

Contradicting accounts of Salem shooting

Josh and his stepson’s accounts of what brought them to Salem on Monday contradict each other in the probable cause statement.

Josh told police on scene that two to three days before, he and his stepson had traveled from Springfield to a Safeway near downtown Salem to purchase two pounds of methamphetamine for $2,800 from the same couple they encountered at Fred Meyer.

He said his stepson paid the money, which Josh provided, to the man, who walked away, presumably to get the drugs, police said. The woman then drove away, according to Josh’s statement to police. Josh told police he and Thomason got into their vehicle and pursued the car.

When the female driver stopped at a light, Josh pulled in front of the car, attempting to block it while Thomason got out and used “sockets in a sock” to hit the rear passenger side windows, shattering them, police said.

The female driver hit Josh’s vehicle on the driver’s side before speeding away, police said.

On Monday morning, Josh told police his stepson awakened him and told him he knew the location of the man and woman who had taken his money.

Josh told police he and Thomason drove to Salem with the intention of getting their money back and brought a handgun in case there were problems. Josh told police he bought a 9 mm pistol from his stepson about a year ago because Thomason was a felon, prohibiting him from having a firearm.

Thomason’s version of why they came to Salem on Monday morning was to drop off a friend, police said. He told police that after doing that, they stopped at Fred Meyer for drinks and snacks and said he noticed the white car. Thomason said he knew the man from school when he was younger and the woman because he heard she wanted to “rob him of drugs.”

When Thomason approached the white car, he told police the woman pulled a handgun and cocked it, but the gun jammed. Thomason told police the man attacked him, and there was a struggle. Thomason told police his dad intervened, and the two attempted to keep the car doors shut.

During the struggle, Thomason told police, the woman shot him. He told police he fell to the ground, unable to use his legs, and he heard another shot come from inside the car.

Thomason was taken to the hospital with gunshot wounds to his flanks, one on the right side and one on the left, police said. Police wrote in the probable cause document that hospital staff described it as appearing to be a through-and-through of a single bullet due to no bullet remaining in his person.

The woman, who had four gunshot wounds to the abdomen and leg, told police Thomason shot her first, not the other way around as Thomason had said. Police wrote in the probable cause document that Josh described the scene as a "Mexican standoff" with both pointing handguns at each other.

Police interviewed the woman at the hospital after surgery, and she initially described Thomason as an unknown subject but eventually acknowledged she had met him a few days before during a meth deal in Salem.

She told police she and her boyfriend woke up in the back seat of the car Monday to find Thomason pointing a gun at her and then his father trying to get her out of the vehicle. She told police Thomason opened the rear passenger door and shot at her.

The woman told police she had a gun with her and, based on her fears, shot back, police said. While lying on the ground in a fetal position, she told police Josh kicked her in the face.

At some point, according to witness statements, the woman got into another car in the parking lot, telling the driver she had been abused by her boyfriend and asking for help. The female driver offered to take her to work and call for help, but when she started to drive off, a silver car blocked her from leaving, police said.

The male driver of the silver car told her not to leave because the female who had gotten into her car had been involved in a shooting, police said. The woman who had been shot then got out of the car and walked away, according to the probable cause statement. Police said they soon found her, and she was taken to the hospital.

The man she had been with in the back of the white sedan was detained by police at the nearby Elmer’s restaurant and taken to a hospital with a gunshot wound in the right thigh, police said. He told police the woman was his girlfriend, and they were asleep in the backseat of the car when approached by Thomason.

He told police he knew Thomason from high school and confirmed the prior meetup. He said Thomason reached out to set up a deal to buy $1,000 worth of meth, and he acknowledged stealing the money.

No charges had been filed against the man or woman.

Thomason had been charged with two counts of attempted murder in the first degree, two counts of assault in the first degree, and one count of felon in possession of a firearm. His next court date was scheduled for Feb. 9.

Josh had been charged with two counts of attempted murder in the first degree, two counts of assault in the first degree and one count of assault in the fourth degree. He also is charged with felon in possession of a firearm and unlawful use of a weapon. His next court date is scheduled for Feb. 7.

Capi Lynn is a senior reporter for the Statesman Journal. Send comments, questions and tips to her at clynn@statesmanjournal.com.

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Botched drug deal led to Salem Fred Meyer shooting, police say