Surveillance image from Les Schwab shows suspect and victim vehicles heading outbound on Harrison Avenue in Centralia. / Image courtesy of Centralia Police Department
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – A passenger sustained a superficial wound on his forehead when a motorist fired upon a truck several times as both traveled northbound on Harrison Avenue in Centralia yesterday.
It happened in the stretch where two outbound lanes merge into one lane, near the 1300 block of Harrison Avenue.
Centralia police are looking for the suspect described as a white male with a lot of dark curly hair, who was behind the wheel of a light colored Honda Civic.
Centralia police detective John Panco said officers have not pinned down a motive, but it looks “like probably a road rage incident” at this point.
“We’re hoping anyone with information will contact us so we can follow up on leads,” Panco said this morning.
It was 1:52 p.m. when officers responded to a call about shots fired and contacted the occupants of the victim vehicle, a 2000 Ford F250 pickup.
The driver, a 25-year-old Rochester man, was very lucky to have escaped injury, Panco said. The 28-year-old Centralia man sitting in the front passenger seat had only a minor injury, when a fragment from one of the bullets lodged in the baseball cap he was wearing, according to Panco.
Bullets were recovered from inside the victim truck, he said.
As a precaution the passenger was transported to Centralia Providence Hospital by ambulance and was treated and then released.
Panco said the victims told police they had never seen the suspect before. A witness described seeing the suspect vehicle pull in front of him, then the Ford Pickup pulled in front of the suspect and then the suspect car pulled up alongside the driver’s side of the truck.
The driver of the Honda shot several times out the open passenger window of his car at the driver of the truck, Panco said.
The Honda was last seen continuing north on Harrison towards the intersection of Reynolds Road and Galvin Road, possibly turning west onto Galvin Road, according to police.
The Honda is possibly silver or white and had a tinted back window, according to the Centralia Police Department. It’s not known if any of its other windows were tinted. No other persons were observed in the Honda.
The Centralia Police Department is asking any citizen that has information about this incident to call 360-330-7680.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter