Man who murdered 4 in Oregon home shot dead
A man who murdered 4 people in an Oregon home was shot dead while trying to kill a child.
The lone adult survivor of the gruesome attack by an ax-wielding man who killed four people in an Oregon home Saturday ran about a quarter-mile screaming for help after fighting off the assailant, according to a neighbor who helped hide her at his farmhouse.
The neighbor, who asked not to be named by The Oregonian, said 40-year-old Tracy Burbank approached the residence screaming "Call 911."
“She was traumatized and stunned,” he told the newspaper. “She repeatedly said, ‘I can’t believe what happened. It seems like a dream.’”
Burbank said she was sleeping in a bunk bed when 42-year-old Mark Leo Gregory Gago attacked her after killing his parents, his girlfriend and his infant daughter at the rural home near Woodburn, located about 30 miles south of Portland.
The 40-year-old told the neighbor she was able to get away without any serious injuries because Gago, who had an ax in his hands, couldn't get a "full swing."
“She wrestled with him and she was able to get the ax away from him,” the neighbor told the Oregonian.
Shaina Sweitzer, 31, and 9-month-old Olivia Gago were among those killed by Gago, according to police. (Facebook/Clackamas County Sheriff Office)
The sheriff's office identified the victims as Olivia Gago, 9 months; Shaina Sweitzer, 31; Jerry Bremer, 66; and Pamela Bremer, 64. When police arrived at the scene they found a woman dead outside the home and Gago attacking Hailey Grimm, who was Sweitzer's 8-year-old daughter from a previous relationship. Gago was then shot dead by police.
On Sunday, Hailey Grimm shared horrifying details of the final moments of the rampage, telling FOX12 that Gago was speaking in riddles while his hands were pressed on her throat when deputies ultimately found her.
Hailey Grimm, 8, told FOX12 that Mark Leo Gregory Gago was speaking in riddles while his hands were pressed on her throat when deputies shot and killed him. (KPTV)
“Then when they came in my room. He yelled, ‘No!’” she told FOX12.
MAN WHO MURDERED 4 IN OREGON HOME, TRYING TO KILL CHILD SHOT DEAD BY DEPUTIES, POLICE SAY
Authorities have not yet released further details about the killings but said that victims were not shot. A motive has also not been disclosed in the killings, but Burbank told the neighbor that she thought Gago was high on drugs, the Oregonian reported.
Mark Leo Gregory Gago, 42, killed four people inside an Oregon home and attempting to kill a child was shot and killed by deputies, police said. (Clackamas County Sheriff)
Family members also said that the relationship between Gago and Sweitzer had turned violent recently, with Sweitzer recently texting her ex-boyfriend, Jason Grimm, to say Gago tried to strangle her.
“It was just kind of out the blue,” he told the Oregonian. Grimm is the father of the 8-year-old who survived the attack.
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Gago had been arrested in August on a weapons charge. Sheriff's Office Sgt. Brian Jensen told the Associated Press that Gago was booked on a charge of unlawful possession of a weapon. He did not have details on the circumstances of the arrest or disposition of the case.
Fox News' Katherine Lam and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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