Updated at 11:45 a.m.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – The Lewis County Coroner’s Office says an autopsy conducted yesterday found that 28-year-old Travis Shive died of massive internal bleeding from a gunshot wound, described as entering his abdomen and traveling into his chest without exiting his body.
The Salkum resident was shot twice, by a neighbor on Saturday night, according to the sheriff’s office.
The 56-year-old neighbor man who has not been arrested admitted he armed himself with a .380 semi-automatic handgun and said he went outside to get Shive to leave his property.
The unnamed man told deputies he felt threatened because Shive had been on his front porch ranting, accusing him of shooting his dog and refused to leave.
The sheriff’s office says it learned a fight took place in the yard after Shive, who was unarmed, lunged at the older man and then he was shot.
Shive was transported to Providence Centralia Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office has said the shooter is cooperating with the investigation, and said they were awaiting the results of the autopsy.
This morning, the sheriff’s office indicated detectives now want to answer the question of the proximity of the shooter to Shive when the firearm was discharged.
They are sending Shive’s clothing to the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab to be examined, according to Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown.
Brown said both shots were from front to back, not in the back as two of several witnesses reported.
Coroner Warren McLeod said the other shot struck Shive in his left shoulder.
It happened about 8:10 p.m. on Saturday at the 200 block of Stowell Road, about a half block from the Salkum Super market.
Responding firefighters were told to wait at their station until deputies arrived to make sure the scene was safe.
Fire Chief Duran McDaniel estimated he stayed parked at the neighborhood store perhaps seven minutes, before he was given the okay to come in, something that was tough to do as a person lay injured.
Shive was able to walk off the property and was in the front yard of another property where bystanders were performing CPR.
The coroner said this morning the delay didn’t play a role in Shive’s death, the internal bleeding was so serious.
“Even if the medics got there (immediately) there is nothing, that I’m aware of, they can do all that much to stem the bleeding out in the field,” McLeod said.
Brown this morning indicated the investigation could take some time; such as getting the test results back because of a backlog at the state crime lab.
She said detectives learned the 56-year-old never opened his front door while Shive was there yelling, as he had it duct taped closed in connection with some kind of repair or renovation.
According to Brown, the man exited through a back or side door into the yard to see what was happening, and then the confrontation occurred.
The sheriff’s office believes Shive went to the man’s house in error, thinking it was he who shot the dog.
Detectives are still looking into who did it, as part of their inquiry, but Brown didn’t have high expectations they would find that out.
“I don’t know that person will ever come forward, at this point,” she said. “I don’t know that we’ll ever know.”
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CORRECTION: This news story has been updated to clarify the 56-year-old resident never opened the front door, and only left his house one time to meet up with Shive in his yard, according to the sheriff’s office.
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For background, read “Deadly dispute over dog shooting still under investigation in Salkum” from Monday May 12, 2014, here [1]