Pasco man stole guns while parents were in the hospital with COVID. Then he started shooting

A man who triggered a several hour standoff at a Pasco home, was reportedly staying there alone because both of his parents were in the hospital suffering from COVID.

While they were absent, Cameron Ono, 32, broke down the inside doors, and grabbed two guns from his father’s collection — a semi-automatic rifle and a .40 caliber handgun, court records said.

Investigators believe he fired those guns at least twice, including once when he scared a group of school children waiting for the bus, and damaging a neighbor’s fence and vehicle. Officers got warrants to search the house and to arrest him, bringing SWAT team officers to the west Pasco neighborhood and leading to the three-hour standoff Tuesday afternoon.

Ono is being held in the Franklin County jail on $250,000 bail on charges of theft of a gun, second-degree malicious mischief, reckless endangerment and unlawful gun possession for the string of crimes that ended in the standoff.

While Ono was staying at his parent’s house, he doesn’t have a permanent address. He’s also been ordered to stay away from the Road 96 home, according to court records.

Pasco police first heard about gunshots in the neighborhood at 4 a.m. Monday. A search didn’t turn up any sign of where the shots came from.

The second time they were heard, a group of students were waiting for the school bus at 6:45 a.m. Tuesday. They ran back home and their parents called 911. Officers weren’t able to find the source for those shots either.

Then at 11:45 a.m., one of Ono’s neighbors called to report that their fence and vehicle had been shot. Witnesses reported seeing Ono walking out of his parent’s home 10 to 15 minutes after the shooting.

“Cameron Ono is well known to officers and neighbors due to his lengthy history of thefts, suspicious behavior, destruction of property and drug us,” Pasco police Officer Jeremy Wakeman wrote in court records.

Stolen guns

As Pasco police investigated, they learned both of Ono’s parents were in the hospital because of complications due to COVID.

Ono’s brother had gone to the home last week and found the inside doors kicked in, including to his father’s room where a number of guns are kept.

His brother was removing the guns, but noticed an AR rifle and a .40 caliber Glock handgun were missing.

Ono’s previous felony convictions, including for robbery and harassment, prevent him from having guns. But it hasn’t stopped Ono from being “obsessed with arming himself and taking his dad’s firearms,” Wakeman wrote. This is even though he has never been given permission to handle them.

Ono is a habitual fentanyl user, and becomes paranoid, destructive and violent when he’s using, according to court records. He had called police before to report that people were trying to get into his house, and he needed to protect himself.

A family member came by to check on the family’s dog on Monday evening and found shell casings by the couch and a bullet hole on the window, and told officers. It’s believed that Ono was shooting at people who were not there.

The broken window lined up with the damage done to his neighbor’s property, police said. Officers also found shell casings in the garage along with damage to the garage door.

Witnesses saw Ono go into the house on Tuesday afternoon, and officers tried to get him to come outside. Since Ono was armed, Tri-City Regional SWAT team was called to help with the arrest.

After three hours outside of the home, Ono came out and was arrested.