“I’ll get you some help, but you just have to back away from the door,”
she said. “If you don’t, I will shoot you.”
–
From: Ed Wolfe
More on the Lebanon, OR story. -Ed

Two shot; one of the suspects later terrorizes neighborhood

The Associated Press
11/17/99 9:20 PM Eastern

SWEET HOME, Ore. (AP) — Police say one of two suspects in the killing
of a
man and the wounding of another later forced his way into several homes
near
Lebanon while trying to find a getaway car.

Two longtime Sweet Home residents, brothers Dean Fredrick Pruitt, 53,
and
John Oliver Pruitt, 54, were shot in their home when two acquaintances
entered
the house just before 7:30 p.m., according to Sweet Home police.

Dean Pruitt died later Tuesday night at Lebanon Community Hospital. John
was
in critical condition this morning at Good Samaritan Hospital in
Corvallis.

Police were combing the mid-valley for Marc Mealey Holcomb Jr., 28.

Authorities said he was the primary suspect in the shooting and the
break-ins.
They were also seeking Corey Andrew Burdick, 23, of Sweet Home for
questioning.

After the shootings, Holcomb allegedly went to Lebanon, where he broke
into
six homes.

The first house was empty, but at another residence, the suspect fired
rounds inside through a front door, then confronted a teen-age boy, who
was able to lock himself in a room and escape, according to a sheriff’s
office report.

Then, the intruder confronted a 16-year-old boy in another home with his
7-year-old brother. The elder brother grabbed a .22 caliber rifle and
shot the man in the chest. Wounded, the man fled and went to two other
houses, where he confronted
more residents.

He dropped and lost his gun at another home.

Sandra Rabine said at her home, she saw a man thrusting his fist through
a small window in her back door, trying to get hold of the door knob
from the inside so he could force his way into the house.

“Get me some help, get me some help,” the man screamed.

Rabine tried to hold the door knob from the outside so he could force
his way into the house.

“I’ll get you some help, but you just have to back away from the door,”
she said. “If you don’t, I will shoot you.”

He passed his 9 mm pistol through the opening where his hand had been.

Rabine saw there was no clip and the gun had no bullets. Through the
window,
she could see that the man’s blue T-shirt was covered with blood.

Before he gave up his gun, Rabine tried to force the man back by beating
on his hand with the butt of her 9 mm pistol that she had grabbed to
protect herself. With her other hand she dialed 911.

Rabine said she kept calm by talking to herself.

“I just kept telling myself not to panic. I knew I had to do this,” she
said. “My husband always preached to me, ‘Never open the door,’ and I
kept remembering that.”

When sheriff’s deputies arrived, they discovered bloody fingerprints on
a porch post and mud and more blood on the front doorbell.

The man later confronted a 72-year-old woman, cut her on the left hand
with a pocket knife during a scuffle, then fled in her van.

Early Wednesday morning, police found the van behind a Lebanon home.
Officers searched the area, but found no one.

Lebanon Police Sgt. Tim Fitzwater said he believed the house was the
home of
Holcomb’s brother. He said the van would be towed and impounded so
investigators could go through it.

Police believe that Holcomb has been seriously wounded and is very
dangerous.

“We’re checking all known associates and hangouts,” said Sheriff Dave
Burright. “The best thing would be for them to call and turn themselves
in.”

Although there are no indications at this time that the shootings were
drug-related, Sweet Home Police Chief Bob Burford said the Sweet Home
residence where the shootings took place has a history of drug dealing.

Questions? Comments? Suggestions? We welcome your feedback.

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Copyright 1999 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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