Even more distressing is that a campus safety officer was involved.”Ī local newspaper, The Source Weekly, asked in a full-page article: “What prompted his alleged crime spree?” So far, there are no answers. “We always felt safe here, but when something like this happens, it hits everyone in their core. “This is such a hit on so many levels,” said Aimee Metcalf, assistant director of college relations. Lara was a public safety officer at Central Oregon Community College in Bend. What many here find particularly disturbing are the accounts of an average resident going off the rails so completely. Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel announced Monday that a grand jury charged Lara with four counts of aggravated murder, alleging that “Lara kidnapped Kaylee Sawyer, then he attempted to sexual assault her, and then he killed her to conceal the commission of the crimes.” There is no indication Lara knew the young woman he is charged with killing. Police say many were related to domestic violence. Bend averaged one murder or manslaughter per year since 1985, according to FBI statistics. It is a friendly town, but crime, even homicide, is nothing new. People are drawn by its sunny climate, its hiking, skiing, fishing and cycling opportunities and by its microbreweries. A former lumber town at the foot of the Cascade Range, Bend has seen its population more than quadruple over the past 25 years to 87,000. Many people in Bend, where Lara worked, are reeling. After a chase over 100 mph on the main freeway along the West Coast, the California Highway Patrol arrested Lara. Then one recent night, police say, he killed a young woman.Įdwin Lara then traveled to the state capital, kidnapped another woman and took her to California, where he shot a man and carjacked a vehicle with three people inside, police allege.

BEND, Oregon » He had everything going for him: a job and good career path in law enforcement in a scenic Oregon mountain town, the trust of his colleagues, a wife and a house.

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