[1]Police wait for a search warrant before going back inside a house on the 900 block of B Street where a man was shot dead.
Updated at 7 p.m. and 7:15 p.m.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CENTRALIA – A 43-year-old local man is dead of a gunshot and Centralia police are questioning a suspect this afternoon.
Officers and aid were called just before 3 p.m. to a home on B Street, just north of East Third Street about someone being shot.
When paramedics were sent inside to check him, there were no signs of life, according to responders.
Centralia Police Department spokesperson Officer John Panco said he did not know if the suspect or the dead man lived at the house.
A suspect was picked up soon after by officers – driving in the Big Hanaford area and is being interviewed at the police station, Panco said.
His identity hasn’t been released and won’t be unless he is arrested, Panco said.
Crime scene tape was strung blocking access to a light green house with a pink bicycle and a black barbecue on its porch while officers conferenced outside with one another this afternoon.
Monique Camoza who works in an office across the street said she saw several people coming out of the house before police arrived, including a screaming woman asking where the ambulance was, because “he’s dying.”
Although an arriving officer told her to stay out, she went back inside saying, “He doesn’t want to die alone,” Camoza said.
Officer Panco said he had no idea what transpired or who was inside the house before it happened.
Several people were being interviewed at the station, Panco said late this afternoon.
Across the street neighbor Lane Jolly said he didn’t hear anything but he knew the home’s resident, a man in his late 20s or early 30s who has resided there for seven or eight years.
He has a daughter who doesn’t live with him and seems to be a very good and very proud father, Jolly said.
He used to be a “high angle welder” but got injured, Jolly said.
“The last six months, things kinda went south for him,” Jolly said.
He’d been having a lot of trouble lately with people stealing things from him, he said.
“It’s a sad deal,” Jolly said, believing his across-the-street neighbor to be the man in custody.
Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer and his Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher arrived not long after police.
They and commanding officers, including Chief Bob Berg were soon huddled in crime scene response vehicle, writing a search warrant so they could back inside, according to Panco.
Just after 7 p.m., the police department announced Weston G. Miller was arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail for first-degree murder.
Miller, 29, is the resident of the green house in question, according to Panco.
The victim is also a Centralia resident, but police did not release his name.
Panco said that’s the coroner’s office responsibility and he expected they would do that after next-of-kin are notified.
[2]Centralia police investigate fatal shooting on B Street