News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
According to Deschutes County Sheriff's reports, two friends brought Joshua Sam-Hardy Otto to Sisters Fire Hall in the back of a pickup truck at about 2:24 a.m. Saturday September 7. Police and fire personnel found Otto dead of a gunshot wound to the head.
Sheriff's Detective Sergeant Michael Johnston reported that Otto and his friends had been camping near Squaw Creek about nine miles northeast of Sisters when Otto apparently shot himself once in the roof of the mouth with a semi-automatic .22 pistol.
"He was up by himself," Detective Sergeant Johnston said. "Everybody else was prepared to go to sleep and they heard at least two gunshots."
Otto was allegedly standing near a vehicle with its door open when he shot himself. According to Johnston, one shot entered the roof of Otto's mouth; the other was apparently discharged when he fell to the ground.
Johnston said that there was no apparent motive for suicide; Otto allegedly had no history of depression or mental illness.
"This kid's a good student, the whole nine yards," Johnston said. "Nice family."
According to Johnston, Otto's two camping partners gave verbal statements that alcohol and drugs -- hallucinogenic mushrooms -- had been consumed, but lab tests on Otto will not be completed for about two weeks.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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