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Police: Chehalis resident jailed for shooting cousin on neighborhood street

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Police are investigating a shooting last night involving two men who are relatives that occurred on a residential street in Chehalis.

One man is in custody and the other was hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries, according to the Chehalis Police Department.

Both are 36-year-old Chehalis residents.

It happened on Southwest William Avenue near Fourth Street about 8:30 p.m., about three blocks from the suspect’s home, according to police.

Police say the victim was driving a car and the suspect was walking the same direction on the sidewalk when the suspect fired a round that struck the rear quarter panel.

“The victim then pulled over to the side of the road and started to get out of the car when the suspect approached him and fired another round,” police stated in a news release.

Police department spokesperson Linda Bailey said the victim put his hand up by his head to block, and the bullet went through his hand. He also had an injury to the side of his head, but detectives aren’t certain yet what caused it, she said.

Bailey said the two are cousins.

“We still are investigating the reason for the shooting,” she said this morning. “That has not become clear yet.”

The suspect, Chan H. Oscar, then ran off and law enforcement officers from Chehalis, Centralia, the state patrol and the sheriff’s office scoured the area for the next three and a half hours, according to police.

The victim, whose name has not been released, was conscious and sitting on the bumper of a car when firefighters arrived. He was quickly transported away from the scene to Providence Centralia Hospital, according to the Chehalis Fire Department.

A street was blocked off and a search of the area was conducted using a police dog, according to Bailey.

Shortly after midnight, officers saw a sport utility vehicle leave a residence where Oscar is known to stay, according to police. Officers conducted a “high risk traffic stop” a few blocks south of the shooting, at Southwest Pacific Avenue and 10th Street.

Oscar, the passenger, was taken into custody without further incident. A 9 mm semi-automatic handgun was recovered at the same time, Bailey said.

Another occupant of the vehicle, Lenard A. Carlile, 50, also from Chehalis, was arrested for rendering criminal assistance, according to police.

Oscar was booked into the Lewis County Jail for first-degree assault, police said.