Jason E. Huston, a 45-year-old White/Caucasian man, died on August 18, 2016, in Hermiston, Oregon. That morning, he picked up 14-year-old James “JJ” Hurtado from the boy’s grandparents’ home in Umatilla and drove to a spot near the Umatilla River where he had previously gone to shoot. According to police, Huston shot and killed JJ there with a handgun, then later went to the Hermiston home of his longtime friend, 45-year-old Kenneth E. Valdez, at 130 NW 11th Street.
Inside the house, Huston shot Valdez multiple times and shot 35-year-old Andria Bye once; she survived and told officers what had happened. Huston then died at the scene from a self-inflicted gunshot.
Investigators quickly located JJ’s body that evening in rugged terrain outside Hermiston, consistent with the timeline they reconstructed from witness statements and evidence. The Hermiston School District confirmed that Huston and Valdez were both volunteer wrestling coaches at Hermiston High School, a connection that deepened the community’s shock as details emerged. In the days that followed, police released a refined chronology of Huston’s movements that day, emphasizing the sequence from picking up JJ, to the remote shooting site by the river, and finally to Valdez’s residence where the final shootings occurred.
Authorities stated they were not searching for any additional suspects and characterized the case as a double murder and suicide with a third victim wounded. No arrests were made, and police indicated the evidence pointed to Huston as the sole shooter responsible for JJ’s death, Valdez’s killing, and the shooting of Bye before taking his own life.
