Two people were shot in Centralia on Saturday night and were then further injured in a car crash, according to the Centralia Police Department.
Both victims, a 23-year-old man and a 26-year-old woman, both of Centralia, were admitted to Providence Centralia Hospital and are expected to survive, according to the Centralia Police Department.
No arrests had been made as of Monday afternoon, at which time the case was still under investigation.
Centralia officers were dispatched to multiple reports of gunshots in the area of Oxford Avenue and Vienna Street at approximately 10:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 13, according to a news release from the Centralia Police Department.
Shortly after the gunshots were reported, there was a 911 call advising that two people had been shot while riding in a vehicle, according to the news release.
Centralia officers and detectives later determined the victims had been driving in a vehicle northbound on Oxford Avenue when they encountered “between four and six juvenile or young adult males walking in the roadway,” according to the news release. An argument between the subjects on the street and the occupants in the car escalated to the point where two of the male pedestrians reportedly “drew pistols and fired multiple rounds into the victim('s) vehicle” before fleeing the area on foot, according to the news release.
Law enforcement officials from the Washington State Patrol, the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office, the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office and the Chehalis Police Department assisted Centralia police in a search for the suspects, but they were not located Saturday night, according to the Centralia Police Department.
A friend of the two victims, a 32-year-old Centralia man, was reportedly driving the victims to Providence Centralia Hospital when the vehicle was involved in “a serious collision” with two other vehicles at the intersection of Mellen Street and Interstate 5, according to the news release.
The driver has since been referred to a local prosecutor’s office for possible driving under the influence charges.
A deputy with the Lewis County Sheriff's Office responded to the scene of the collision and transported the two gunshot victims the rest of the way to the hospital, according to the Centralia Police Department.
“The Centralia Police Department wishes to thank the Lewis County Sheriff's Office, the Chehalis Police Department, the Thurston County Sheriff's Office and the Washington State Patrol for their assistance with this investigation,” the Centralia Police Department stated in a news release Monday afternoon.
The Centralia Police Department encourages anyone with information related to this incident to call Detective Sergeant Dave Clary at 360-330-7680.
