Police arrest Sandy man for shooting at Gresham poker parlor

By Mara Stine

The Sandy Post, Feb 2, 2010, Updated Feb 2, 2010

CARROLL L. MAYFIELD

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A Sandy man — identified as Carroll L. Mayfield, 66 — was arrested late Jan. 29 a short time after police say he opened fire into a Gresham poker parlor.

Bullets hit two people and narrowly missed others.

Mayfield was taken into custody at Main and Powell Boulevard, 13 minutes after the shooting.

He was in possession of the gun suspected of being used in the shooting, but police aren’t revealing what kind of gun it was, said Sgt. Rick Wilson, Gresham police spokesman.

“It would appear that this was a random act of violence with no indication that Mayfield knew the victims,” he added. “The shooting is not directly related to the Players Club.”

Mayfield is being held on $1 million bail at the Inverness Jail on two allegations of attempted murder and two allegations of first-degree assault. He had no criminal record in Gresham and retired in 2006 as a public utility worker after more than 21 years with the city.

The arrest came as a surprise to one of Mayfield’s neighbors in Sandy.

“I’m shocked,” said the neighbor, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “He seemed like a pretty good fella.”

The neighbor added Mayfield had mentioned he owned guns.

Mark Mayfield, Carroll Mayfield’s son, issued a statement from the family about the suspect, expressing concern for the victims of the incident.

“Members of our family and those who know my father well are in shock and disbelief that we are having to speak of an incident as inconceivable as this,” according to the statement. “What we’ve heard, seen and read from numerous media accounts regarding the circumstances surrounding Friday night are in no way indicative of the man we know Carroll Mayfield to be.

“We are equally concerned for the health and well-being of those who were injured. Our thoughts and prayers are with them.”

The incident

Gresham Players Club owner Jacque Lavadour opened the business at 106 N. Main Ave. nearly two months ago. On Friday, Lavadour and six others found themselves in the line of fire as they played poker.

The shooting happened at about 10:40 p.m. as Lavadour sat playing cards at a table in the rear corner of the elongated room, his back to the front door.

His friend, Jason Chapman, was dealing. Chapman’s friend, Rick, was sitting to the dealers’ right. Three new clients and a regular customer also were at the table when they noticed a man standing outside.

Lavadour said he thought the man was talking to a customer outside. The customer, the wife of one of the men playing, was taking a cigarette break and talking on her cellular phone.

Then Lavadour noted that the man was standing in front of the window looking in the poker room.

“The guy was so calm, he was just hanging around,” Lavadour said. “We thought he was gonna come in and play some cards.”

So Lavadour went back to the poker table. The next thing he knew, a laser beam was glinting across the players around the table.

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