MADRAS — The suspect in a wild police chase through Madras last week that started at the Jefferson County Fair attempted to use a stolen rifle to shoot eight people during the incident, including Jefferson County Sheriff Jason Pollock and one of his deputies, according to a new grand jury indictment.

Rafael Gomez, 29, appeared at his second arraignment hearing Thursday in Jefferson County Circuit Court, this time pleading not guilty to a raft of charges that could send him to prison for more than two decades.

Police say Gomez was behind a major incident starting at the fairgrounds, leading down U.S. Highway 97 and ending with an exchange of gunfire at a fast food parking lot on the highway. Brentley Foster, chief deputy district attorney for Jefferson County, confirmed Saturday that law enforcement officers shot Gomez in the parking lot of a KFC/A&W Restaurant during the incident.

Witnesses have described a tense situation that nearly turned tragic.

Sometime in the evening Friday, several fairgoers noticed a tattooed man with a black cap — said to be Gomez — peering into parked cars in a dirt parking lot at the fairgrounds. They watched as Gomez allegedly rummaged through an unlocked white and green Ford pickup with California license plates near the back of the lot and produced from it an AR-15-style rifle and a magazine.

According to Gomez’s latest indictment, the truck and weapon belong to Madras man Ethan Sanchez.

Witnesses watched Gomez attempt to load the weapon, and the first calls to 911 were made. At this point, several fair attendees retrieved their handguns and pursued Gomez near the back of the parking lot, where he scrambled through a low hole in the fence.

Sheriff’s deputies manning a booth at the fair hurried to the scene and pursued Gomez on foot down a back road and along Highway 97.

Gomez was later seen walking backward on Southwest Fairgrounds Road toward the highway, at least 50 law enforcement officers in pursuit. He argued with police and attempted to load the rifle. Several gas station employees told The Bulletin that Gomez pointed the weapon at them and attempted to fire, but the gun jammed.

Gunfire was heard outside the O’Reilly Auto Parts across a parking lot from the KFC/A&W restaurant. Gomez was transported to a medical facility under guard before being taken to jail.

On Wednesday, a grand jury heard from witnesses and approved new charges. Gomez now faces 13 felony counts: three of aggravated attempted murder, eight of unlawful use of a weapon and one of theft and one of being a felon in possession of a weapon.

Aggravated attempted murder is a Class A felony and a Measure 11 offense under Oregon law, punishable by lengthy automatic prison terms. For three counts of aggravated attempted murder, Gomez faces 23 years in prison.

In court on Thursday, Gomez wore a full-arm sling on his left arm. His attorney, Ricky Nelson, said the injury was the result of a gunshot from the incident Friday.

“I can tell you, for certain, straight from my client, that he is very relieved that no one got substantially injured or that the community was placed in any further danger or harm than it was,” Nelson said after the hearing. “He’s very relieved that things were not worse than they are.”

Though authorities haven’t released the names of the officers involved, four Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office employees are listed among the Gomez grand jury witnesses. They are Kyle Rathmanner, Stephen Witherow, Jeremy Skeels and Sheriff Pollock. Redmond Officer Jeremy Gautney, a member of the Tri-County Major Incident Team, was also interviewed, as were other witnesses and victims.

Foster said all involved officers had provided written statements that would reviewed by District Attorney Steve Leriche during his ongoing use-of-force review.

“Hopefully, we get that sewn up soon,” Foster said.

Pollock was elected in May following a contentious race with his former boss, Marc Heckathorn, who opted to step down in June rather than serve out the remainder of his term.

Pollock declined to comment on the case but told The Bulletin he and three deputies are back at work after taking off the mandatory 72-hour period of administrative leave because of their direct involvement in the incident.

Two deputies are still on administrative leave, Pollock said.

With so many witnesses in the case, many accounts of the incident are floating around.

“Everybody has their own perception of what happened, and they’re not necessarily wrong,” he said.

A native of Southern California, Gomez moved to Madras around six months ago and struggled to find steady employment, according to Brandy Isham, who was living with Gomez at the time of the incident.

Isham’s roommate is Gomez’s girlfriend.

Gomez was convicted earlier this month of trespassing and giving false information to an officer. He is also wanted on a felony warrant out of his home state of California.

His brother died around two months ago, according to Isham.

“He was really just beside himself and feeling worthless,” Isham said.

Isham said her roommate stayed in her room for days after the incident.

Isham remembered seeing Gomez on Friday. She described him as “lucid” that day, and normal.

“Overall, except for the tattoos, he’s normal. He’s sweet,” she said. “There was no indication that that was going to happen at all.”