A Tigard man died Wednesday after he was shot and killed on Oregon 18 northeast of Otis in an alleged road rage incident.
Dennis Anderson, 45, was with his partner of 18 years, Brandi Goldsbury, on a day trip to Lincoln City after a week of self-quarantine due to COVID-19. They were returning to their home in Tigard about 8:30 p.m. on July 13 when they noticed a driver in a car trying to pass them, Goldsbury, 46, said.
Goldsbury, who worked as a medical assistant at Oregon Health & Science University, said Anderson sprayed windshield wiper fluid on his windshield while driving and some of the fluid may have gotten into the other driver’s car. “I was just like, ‘ignore him, he’s having a bad day,'” she said.
The car, which police identified Tuesday as a BMW 3 Series, eventually drove by, Goldsbury said, and she believed it was gone. A few miles later, however, they arrived at a rest area northeast of Otis, where Goldsbury said they saw the same car parked on the side of the road.
“We passed him and then he got behind us,” Goldsbury said. “And then when the lanes started to merge again, the car started driving very close to us, almost like it was going to hit us. And then he’ll pull into oncoming traffic and swerve toward us like he’s trying to push us over the side of the woods.
She said the other car did this several times, so she told Anderson to pull over and call 911. He did. He also got out of the car while Goldsbury was dialing, she said.
Then the driver of the other car pulled up alongside them and started shooting at the car, she said. “The last thing he said was, ‘Oh my God, they shot me,'” Goldsbury said.
After several shots were fired, Goldsbury unbuckled his seat belt and signaled to passing cars for help.
“By the time I got to him, he was bleeding from the mouth,” she said. She said a man started CPR on Anderson and didn’t stop until paramedics arrived.
Police had made no arrests as of Tuesday. They said the driver fled.
Oregon State Police describe the suspect as a short, under 25-year-old man with dark hair.
Oregon State Police said the suspect vehicle, shown above, is a black BMW 3 Series. As of Tuesday, police had made no arrests. Courtesy of the Oregon State Police
In early April on US 26, the driver of a Land Rover SUV shot multiple times at a Ford Flex transporting a family from Cannon Beach to Camas, Washington. No one was injured in this incident.
Anderson had two teenage daughters and an adult stepson.
Dennis Anderson, right, sits with his daughter Izzy, left, at the HWY 101 Burger. He had two teenage daughters and an adult stepson. Photo courtesy of Brandy Goldsbury
“He’s one of those dads who pushes himself,” Goldsbury said. “They’d ask for something absolutely outrageous and he’d say no, then I’d turn around and he’d do it, making it happen for them.”
Anderson grew up in Massachusetts, and his father, David Anderson, said he was best friends with his son, spending time with him doing a variety of activities, including fishing, watching New England Patriot games and working on cars and a boat.
When they went fishing, David Anderson, 65, said: “We’re going to make it a tournament – see who gets the biggest fish.”
Goldsbury said she met her partner in online chat rooms, and Anderson traveled cross-country for two days from Massachusetts to Oregon to see her. “I freaked out and sent it,” Goldsbury said. “I was like, ‘no, no, we can’t do this, I can’t let strangers come into my house.’
But then she said she changed her mind. When Anderson had already gone to Hood River, she said she called him back. “And then he came back and he never left after that,” Goldsbury said.
The couple, who have lived in the Portland area since 2008, have done many things together, from starting a soap company to taking family trips to the coast.
“There’s a little hamburger place in Lincoln City that we would go to,” she said. “It was the children’s and Dennis’ favorite place. It’s a small dive burger joint, but they loved it.
Their dream was to buy a house in the Lincoln Township area, Goldsbury said.
Anderson also made changes in her life to spend more time with her daughters. He recently quit working at a pharmacy and delivering pizzas part-time to spend more time with his children, she said.
His stepmother, Karen Anderson, said Goldsbury and the three children were his world.
“His life revolved around them,” said Anderson, 67, who lives in Sharon, Massachusetts.
—Zaim Sheikh; mshaikh@oregonian.com; 503-221-8111; @zaeemshake
Add Comment