Document text
--> --> Associated Press Members of the Salem Police Department SWAT team retreat Tuesday from a burning home in Keizer. Police suspend search to stabilize structure KEIZER (AP) - Police must reinforce the second floor of a fire-destroyed home before they can search for the bodies of an armed man and his mother, police said Tuesday. It was likely to be this morning before police can search the upstairs and recover any bodies, said Keizer police spokesman Capt. Kent Barker. Officers responding to a routine call Tuesday heard several gunshots coming from inside the house and saw an armed man through a second-story window. The blaze started shortly after police heard the shots. A Salem SWAT team and Salem and Keizer police did not immediately allow fire crews to fight the blaze because they were wary of the man with the gun. The man, 26-year-old Eric Olsen, and his mother, 68-year-old Fern Olsen, apparently did not leave the house during the fire, police said. Police went to the two-story white house around 2 p.m. Tuesday at the request of Fern Olsen's daughter, who said she hadn't heard from her mother in two days. Barker said Eric Olsen watched officers from a window "but at no time did he open a window or say anything," he said. The Olsens were known to police. Eric Olsen's girlfriend was found dead on the Olsens' front lawn last year, apparently of a drug overdose, Barker said. Police have also responded to several domestic calls from both the mother and son. Neighbors said the mother and son had a poor relationship and that Fern Olsen recently moved into a mobile trailer next to the house. Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing