A man was shot and killed outside a bar in downtown Bend this weekend after he asked out another man’s girlfriend, according to the Deschutes County District Attorney.

Ian Mackenzie Cranston, 27, of Redmond, was arrested on suspicion of second-degree manslaughter. He later posted bail and was released.

In order to use deadly force in Oregon, a person must reasonably believe their life or the lives of others are at risk. Cranston has yet to be charged but on Monday, Deschutes County District Attorney John Hummel said he’d seen nothing to indicate police were wrong to arrest Cranston and he intends to soon take the case to a grand jury.

“Words were exchanged and shots were fired, and the state doesn’t feel it was justified,” Hummel said. “We feel really good about the case.” 

The identity of the 25-year-old victim has not been released.

Around 12:11 Sunday morning, police were called to a shooting at the corner of NW Oregon Ave. and NW Wall Street downtown.  First responders found the victim on a sidewalk with a single gunshot wound. The man was transported to St. Charles Bend and later died of his injury.

Hummel said Cranston was arrested by police “pretty quickly.” Numerous people witnessed the dispute and the shooting.

Investigators learned the two men did not know each other and the shooting was precipitated by the victim speaking with Cranston’s girlfriend, Hummel said.

“He asked her on a date,” Hummel said. “He wasn’t grabbing or pawing or molesting her. He asked her out, and her boyfriend didn’t like that.”

According to a Facebook profile appearing to be Cranston’s, he works as a machinist for Bend-based ammunition manufacturer Nosler.

Bend Police asks witnesses to the fatal shooting to call the non-emergency dispatch line at 541-693-6911.