An investigation is underway following a police shooting in northeast Grants Pass that sent a man to the hospital Friday morning.

The shooting occurred on the lawn outside Iguana Comics on Midland Avenue near Seventh Street. The comic shop and a nearby branch of Chase Bank were closed as a result.

The Grants Pass Police Department said the shooting stemmed from a report of a car break-in at 7:09 a.m. during which the owner of the vehicle was said to have been pistol-whipped.

The attack was reported in the 1600 block of Northeast Seventh Street. A man who matched the description of the suspect on nearby Midland Avenue was shot after he pointed a gun at officers as they closed in, the police department said.

The police department said three officers shot at the man, who was hit multiple times.

Officers rendered aid until medics arrived, at which time the wounded man was rushed to a hospital in Medford for surgery, the police department said.

An investigation of the circumstances of the shooting is being overseen by Oregon State Police, the police department said.

At the scene hours after the shooting, OSP evidence technicians could be seen working the scene. One was equipped with a metal detector.

In a statement, the police department said the officers opened fire “in response to the immediate threat posed by the armed suspect.”

“At the time of the encounter,” the statement said, “the officers were also attempting to prevent the suspect from causing further harm to members of the public following the reported armed assault that had occurred moments earlier.”

On social media, Iguana Comics said it was closed due to the shooting but hoped to reopen later in the afternoon.

“Everyone at Iguana is fine,” the post continued. “Our property is where things happened. So until there done collecting evidence please stay away and let them do there jobs.”

The last shooting by Grants Pass police appears to have occurred on Dec. 15, 2023, when officers along with state troopers and sheriff’s deputies were involved in a shootout at the corner of Redwood Highway and Allen Creek Road with a murder suspect named Kelly Mason.

Mason was killed in the gun battle.

The most recent shooting involving local law enforcement occurred in April 2025, when a Josephine County sheriff’s deputy wounded a fugitive who rammed his patrol vehicle in O’Brien.

The fugitive survived. Use of force was justified in both shootings, the district attorney’s office said.