Washington County Sheriff Pat Garrett presented now-retired Sergeant Jeremy Braun with a commemorative shadowbox recently to mark his near-19 years working at the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.
Braun, who grew up in Banks, was the subject of significant media and community activity following a shootout near Hagg Lake on August 18, 2019.
Braun and another officer, Deputy Chris Iverson, were both shot in a gunfight after reports came in of a theft of firearms from a home near Hagg Lake. Officers with multiple agencies and the interagency Washington County Tactical Negotiation Team — commonly known as a SWAT team — entered a wooded area to search for the suspect when Iverson and Braun were ambushed and shot by Dante James Halling, 55 years old at the time of the shooting, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office said.
Braun was flown by LifeFlight to OHSU with life threatening injuries. Iverson was transported to an area hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
“The valley of the shadow of death is very small, very narrow, and you have to go through it alone,” said Braun in 2020, speaking on his close brush with death.
More than 18 months after being shot at close range with a shotgun, Braun returned to full-time duty after a lengthy hospital stay and months of recovery and physical therapy.. He retired January 14, 2022.
According to a statement from the sheriff’s office, Braun began work for the county’s law enforcement agency on June 16, 2003, working for nearly 19 years in the Patrol Division.
“The Sheriff and staff at the Washington County Sheriff’s Office are grateful to Jeremy for his many years of dedicated service and wish him and his family all the best,” a statement from the sheriff’s office read.
Chas Hundley is the editor of the Banks Post and sister news publications the Gales Creek Journal and the Salmonberry Magazine. He grew up in Gales Creek and has a cat.