Deadly confrontation between Militia and law enforcement in Oregon

OREGON (KUSI) – 2:30 p.m. – Following a shootout with Oregon protesters Tuesday night, Harney County Sheriff David Ward on Wednesday blamed the occupiers for the death of an outspoken protester who authorities tried to arrest during a traffic stop.

According to CNN, the protester killed during the incident has not officially been identified, but others are identifying him as LaVoy Finicum

"Multiple agencies put a lot of work into this to put the best tactical plan that they could to arrest them peacefully," Ward told CNN. "(The death) didn’t have to happen. We all make choices in life. Sometimes our choices go bad."

Authorities were arresting leader Ammon Bundy when the shooting started. It was unclear who fired first.

Despite the arrests and the death, several of Bundy’s followers said they would continue their weekslong armed occupation.

"We don’t arm up and rebel," Ward said, urging everyone involved in the occupation to "move on."

"We work through the appropriate channels. This can’t happen anymore. This can’t happen in America, and it can’t happen in Harney County," the sheriff said.

1/26/2016 – Ammon Bundy, the leader of the group of protesters occupying a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon, was arrested Tuesday.

During the incident another protester was shot and killed and eight others were taken into police custody.

According to the Associated Press, authorities arrested Bundy, 40, his brother Ryan Bundy, 43, Brian Cavalier, 44, Shawna Cox, 59, and Ryan Payne, 32, during a traffic stop Tuesday afternoon on U.S. Highway 395. Authorities said another person, Joseph Donald O’Shaughnessy, 45, was arrested in Burns.

Law enforcement officials also reported that several shots were fired during the incident, but it was unclear who fired first and what caused the gunfire.

In a statement Tuesday, the FBI said one individual "who was a subject of a federal probable cause arrest is deceased." No other information about the deceased was immediately released, according to AP. 

Bundy and his follows have been occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge since January 2 to protest federal land policies.

According to CNN, when the protests originally began, Bundy was protesting the sentencing of Dwight Hammond and his son Steven, ranchers convicted of arson on federal lands in Oregon.

The protests led to the occupation, with protesters calling out the government for overreaching their involvement in federal lands.

Last week, Oregon’s governor said that she’d had enough of the protest at the refuge in Harney County, in the southeastern corner of her state.

"The residents of Harney County have been overlooked and underserved by federal officials’ response thus far," Gov. Kate Brown said during a news conference. "This spectacle of lawlessness must end. And until Harney County is free of it I will not stop insisting that federal officials enforce the law."