Oregon Bank Bombing Suspect Arrested

(CBS/AP)  Police arrested a suspect late Sunday in the Oregon bank bombing that killed two officers and critically injured a police chief, authorities said.

Sheriff Russ Isham of Marion County declined to release the suspect's name, saying it would jeopardize the integrity of the investigation and the safety of officers still working the case.

"We do believe the person responsible for the bombing is in custody," Deputy District Attorney Courtland Geyer said late Sunday.

The suspect was arrested in Salem, located just south of Woodburn, the small city south of Portland where Friday's bombing occurred.

Officers made the arrest shortly after Sheriff Russ Isham of Marion County released surveillance photos of a "person of interest." Geyer would not say if a tip led to the arrest.

He also wouldn't disclose if the man in the photos, apparently taken with a security camera, is the same person in custody.

Isham would not release the precise location where the arrest took place, and said the suspect's name likely wouldn't be released until Monday afternoon.

"I'm really proud of those who tirelessly worked to get us to this point and am humbled by the community's support," Isham said. "We know there is still a lot of hard work ahead of us, but this development will help bring relief to the local community and the officer's families."

Earlier Sunday, Isham said cell phones and items that might have been used to make the Woodburn bomb were bought in the central Oregon city of Bend last month. Authorities would not elaborate on how cell phones might have been used. Bombers often use cell phone signals to remotely detonate explosives.

Geyer said revealing anything about the "manner and build" of the bomb would hurt the investigation.

Investigators believe that at least one person involved in the plot was in the Bend, Ore. area in late November, where the cell phones and other items believed to have been used in the attack were purchased, reported CBS News affiliate KOIN. The same person who was in Bend is also believed to have taken actions "in furtherance of his plan" on Dec. 11 and 12 in Salem and in Woodburn

The blast occurred Friday, Dec. 12, in Woodburn. KOIN reported that Oregon State Police Senior Trooper William Hakim and Woodburn Police Captain Tom Tennant were killed. Woodburn Police Chief Scott Russell was critically injured, and a bank employee suffered minor injuries.

Russell remained in critical condition Sunday at a Portland hospital.

A bank executive said police had been called out earlier in the day on a bomb threat at the Wells Fargo bank, which is right next door. KOIN reported that police came out, searched, and said they found only a harmless device, so they left. Later, a West Coast Bank manager spotted a suspicious package outside his branch and again called police. The law officers came back and took the bomb inside, where it blew up.

Robert Sznewajs, the CEO of West Coast Bank, said Sunday that the bank planned to establish a fund for the families of the law enforcement officers.

[misogynist10]

Mr. Bomber is headed for the Big House.

[wlmrtpatriot]

Sounds more like the authorities took the bomb inside the building and blew it up. This person is guilty of placing the bomb outside in the bushes.
I still don''t understand why they moved the bomb inside the bank.

[omega40]

Do you think he was after the cops or the bankers? I wonder if he lost his home to foreclosure? The other thing is, he knows how to make a bomb hooked up by a cell phone, but he doesn''''t know how to be covert. Strange, and unfortunate.

Posted by lochlan

My first thought was somebody that lost their house to foreclosure.

[lochlan-2009]

Do you think he was after the cops or the bankers? I wonder if he lost his home to foreclosure? The other thing is, he knows how to make a bomb hooked up by a cell phone, but he doesn''t know how to be covert. Strange, and unfortunate.

[pollroller1]

I don''t understand why they took the package inside the bank.

[usaisok]

Oregon may be easy, but when police officers are killed, gloves are off!

[longtree-2009]

if the suspect is the guilty one, and it''s proven beyond the shadow of a doubt, he should be executed. but oregon is easy on crime and criminals so he will just get a sentence and be out on parole on 8 years or so.