WOODBURN, Ore. (KOIN) — A manager at Heritage Specialty Foods was shot to death inside the Wilsonville facility by an ex-employee who fled the scene and barricaded himself for a time inside a car in Woodburn, authorities said.
Carl Hellinger, 36, died at the scene in what does not appear to be a random shooting, the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office said. A man who had recently been fired, 25-year-old Camilo Santiago-Santiago, was arrested later Friday morning.
He faces charges of murder and being a felon in possession of a firearm. It wasn’t clear if Santiago had an attorney yet.
The shooting and chase
There were about 20 employees inside the business, 28220 SW Boberg Road, at the time of the shooting – around 8:30 a.m. – but no one else was injured.
Santiago, fled the scene and drove into Woodburn, where his car was spotted by a Marion County deputy.
The deputy began chasing Santiago’s red car, as did Clackamas County deputies and Wilsonville police. It ended on a dead-end street at Woodland Avenue at Senecal Creek Drive, officials said. That’s when Santiago barricaded himself inside his car.
It happened that the Clackamas County SWAT unit was training in Wilsonville and rushed to the scene along with the SWAT team from Marion County. An armored vehicle from Salem police also arrived at the scene. That combination surrounded Santiago’s car.
For about 40 minutes during the standoff, Santiago yelled at officers to shoot him, officials said. But around 9:30 a.m. he got out of the car with his hands up and was immediately taken into custody.
The Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office said multiple firearms were recovered from Santiago’s car and he had a pistol in his waistband.
Santiago does live in Woodburn but in a different spot about 3 miles from where he was caught.
Investigators were outside his apartment off North Front Street awaiting a search warrant. Neighbors who spoke with KOIN 6 News didn’t know much about him, but did say there are often a lot of people at the unit.
KOIN 6 News learned Santiago was convicted in 2018 of unlawful use of a weapon.
Witnesses at both scenes
The workers were taken by bus for interviews as part of the investigation. The plant closed for the rest of the day.
After the shooting, some Heritage Specialty Foods employees went across the street to another business. Candice Shambaugh told KOIN 6 News they didn’t say much when they came in.
“The employees didn’t tell us anything,” she said. “They were all in shock, tears a lot of emotions, in total shock.”
Woodburn resident Jeanne Brown told KOIN 6 News she first heard sirens in the area and then watched the red car go slowly down the street.
“There were huge SWAT truck and the police officers had flak jackets on and they were running down the street,” Brown said. “They were running down the street. And this is just a little neighborhood, quiet. We don’t have this kind of stuff going on.”
Brown said she watched 2 officers handcuff the suspected shooter and put him into a police vehicle.
“I saw them handcuff him and put him, they put him in the car outside my house and I wanted to take a picture but I was too afraid to come out of the house,” Brown said. “So I didn’t.”
“These are complex investigations,” Mendoza said. “The investigators will be out there for quite a while and there a number of witnesses. Those interviews are happening right now.”
Heritage Specialty Foods sent out a statement. In part they said, “The news of this senseless violence comes as a shock to all of us. We ask for the community’s prayers and support for survivors and all of our team members during this time.”
