Oregon kidnapping suspect dies of self-inflicted gunshot

A suspect in a violent kidnapping in Oregon died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound Tuesday night after being taken into custody following a standoff with law enforcement, a police spokesman said.
Grants Pass Police Department Lt. Jeff Hattersley told KTVL-TV that Benjamin Obadiah Foster, 36, died at a hospital hours after he was taken into custody in Grants Pass, Oregon.
Foster barricaded himself under a house as officers from four agencies concentrated in the area, set up a command post and assembled a SWAT team while attempting to secure his surrender beginning Tuesday afternoon.
Just before 8 p.m., Hattersley said the situation had been resolved but did not immediately confirm whether Foster had been arrested. Police later confirmed Foster was in custody, but a little more than an hour later said he had succumbed to his injuries.
Hattersley said authorities received "credible information" that Foster had entered the home where a woman was found unconscious, bound and near death on Jan. 24, The Daily Courier reported. She was hospitalized in critical condition.
As police gathered at the home where Foster was located, some area residents received a notification to shelter in place, the Daily Courier reported.
Foster was spotted Tuesday morning walking a dog in the Grants Pass area, according to a Grants Pass Police Department Facebook post.
Last Thursday, law enforcement raided a property in the unincorporated community of Wolf Creek, but Foster, who had been staying on family property there, slipped away. Forested mountains surround the community, but investigators believe that instead of disappearing solo into the wilderness, Foster had help getting out of the area.
Grants Pass is a town of some 40,000 in southwest Oregon next to Interstate 5.
In 2019, before moving to Oregon, Foster held his then-girlfriend captive inside her Las Vegas apartment for two weeks. He initially was charged with five felonies, including assault and battery, and faced decades in prison upon conviction.
Foster reached a deal with Clark County prosecutors in August 2021 that allowed him to plead guilty to one felony count of battery and a misdemeanor count of battery constituting domestic violence.
A judge sentenced him to up to 2 1/2 years in a Nevada prison. But after the 729 days he had spent in jail awaiting trial were factored into his punishment, Foster was left to serve less than 200 additional days in state custody.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Budget 2023 prioritizes pocketbook help and clean economy, deficit projected at $40.1B
In the 2023 federal budget, the government is unveiling continued deficit spending targeted at Canadians' pocketbooks, public health care and the clean economy.

Freeland's green economy spending aimed at competing with U.S. Inflation Reduction Act
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland says clean energy and green technology spending may not have been the big-ticket items of the 2023 federal budget if it weren’t for the need to compete with infrastructure spending in the United States.
Federal government capping excise tax on alcohol after outcry
The increase in excise duties on all alcoholic products is being temporarily capped at two per cent starting next month instead of a planned 6.3 per cent increase.
opinion | The gun control debate in America has been silenced
In the wake of another deadly mass shooting in America, that saw children as young as nine years old shot and killed, the gun control debate is going nowhere, writes CTV News political analyst Eric Ham.
Was Stonehenge a giant calendar? New research suggests maybe not
Stonehenge's purpose has long been a mystery, with some researchers proposing that it may have been an ancient solar calendar. But now, new analysis suggests the calendar theory is unsubstantiated.
Kids would rather learn from smart robots than less-smart humans: new study
A new study published by Canadian researchers suggests that kindergarten-age children would rather be taught by a competent robot than an incompetent human.
‘Using waste material makes sense’: Mysterious artist Junko turns trash into giant sculptures
A mysterious, Montreal-based street artist named Junko is generating buzz in Metro Vancouver with futuristic, bug-like sculptures made from old car parts, scrap metal and tossed out shoes.
New research finds subtle brain changes in pre-symptomatic Alzheimer’s patients
A new peer-reviewed study from the Medical University of South Carolina report in Brain Connectivity has found individualized brain fingerprints which can help diagnose early Alzheimer's disease.
Hamilton family raising awareness about Strep A after sudden death of toddler
A Hamilton, Ont., family is hoping to raise awareness about Strep A after the tragic death of their two-year-old.