Teen arrested in Bear Creek Greenway homicide
Feb. 27—A 17-year-old was arrested on a murder charge surrounding a person's shooting death in Medford's northern section of the Bear Creek Greenway.
Few details have yet been released surrounding the homicide first reported Friday afternoon along north of Railroad Park on the bike path. Medford police as of Saturday afternoon had not yet released the teen suspect's name and the identity of the homicide victim is being withheld pending next of kin.
What's known thus far is that emergency dispatchers received a call for medical help at 1:07 p.m. Friday north of mile marker 23 on the bike path, according to Emergency Communications of Southern Oregon, Bear Creek Greenway Foundation and Medford police records.
Medford police believe the person, who has not yet been identified, died of a gunshot wound Friday afternoon near mile marker 23 of the bike path, according to Medford police Lt. Mike Budreau. As of early Friday evening investigators searched for a weapon and other evidence along the bike path and nearby homeless campgrounds.
Budreau said Friday evening that police are still piecing together the circumstances behind the person's death, but procedurally they were treating the case as a homicide investigation in their interviews with witnesses and searches for clues in the area.
"We're treating it as a homicide, so there's nothing we're doing differently," Budreau said.
Medford police say they'll release more details as the investigation unfolds.
