A masked man shot a driver twice in Kelso on Friday afternoon before fleeing in a silver pickup truck, leaving police to search for a suspect whose weapon may not have been a traditional firearm at all. Officers found the wounded victim inside his own vehicle, bleeding from the head and chest, after being called to the 1300 block of South 13th Avenue just after 4 p.m.
According to KATU, the victim told police he was confronted by a man with a gun or similar device and shot twice before the attacker fled in a pickup truck. Kelso Police Chief Rich Fletcher confirmed via a statement issued through FlashAlert Portland at 6:37 p.m. Friday that officers responded to South 13th Avenue and launched a multi-agency search for the suspect. The location sits just south of a Dairy Queen in a light-industrial and commercial stretch near Interstate 5 and the Coweeman River, according to local paper The Daily News.
The victim was flown to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center in Vancouver, roughly 40 miles south of Kelso, and is expected to survive per the police report. PeaceHealth notes the facility is Southwest Washington's only state-verified Level II trauma center, admitting nearly 3,000 trauma patients a year — a detail that helps explain why the victim was routed south rather than treated in Cowlitz County. He described his attacker as a man between 20 and 30 years old, wearing a black sweatshirt-style top, brown pants and a white mask.
A Weapon Question Complicates the Manhunt
While the victim's account described being shot, The Daily News reports that investigators now suspect the attacker may have used a non-lethal device, such as a pepperball launcher or paintball gun, rather than a conventional firearm. The outlet notes the victim's injuries are still expected to be non-life-threatening, a detail consistent with that theory even as the physical trauma — bleeding from the head and chest — required an airlift to a trauma center. Police have not resolved which type of weapon was actually used, and the distinction remains part of the ongoing investigation.
The suspect's vehicle is described as an early-2000s silver, single-cab, long-bed, two-wheel-drive Ford F-150 with a silver or white canopy, chrome wheels, a tow hitch, and a noticeable dent on the driver's side of the bed. Kelso police are asking anyone with information to contact the department or non-emergency dispatch.
New Camera Network Could Aid the Search
The truck's distinct profile could prove useful for a technology the Kelso Police Department rolled out just last month. In July, Chief Fletcher announced the deployment of Flock Safety automated license plate reader cameras along key corridors, including Interstate 5 freeway exits, aimed at helping officers detect stolen and suspect vehicles, according to a statement shared on Facebook. That network gives the department a potential tool for tracking the silver F-150 as investigators widen their search.
The Kelso Police Department fields 27 sworn officers and five civilian staff to serve a city of roughly 13,000 residents, per the department's own recruiting materials. Fletcher took over as chief in late 2024 after nearly three decades with the agency, having joined in 1995, according to prior reporting from The Daily News.
Part of a Recent Pattern of Kelso Gun Violence
Friday's shooting follows other recent violent incidents in the small Cowlitz County city. In April, Kelso police investigated a late-night shooting in a downtown parking lot that left a 35-year-old man in critical condition while officers searched for a fleeing red SUV, as Hoodline previously reported. That same month, a teenager was sentenced to probation after pleading guilty in connection with a thwarted threat against Kelso's Three Rivers Mall, a case that had drawn in federal and local authorities the year before.
Even so, statewide numbers suggest violent crime overall has been trending downward. Data released in August by the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs showed an overall drop in major reported offenses across the state between 2024 and 2025, including a 21 percent decline in murders, according to Ground News. Whether Friday's shooting fits into that broader trend or bucks it will likely depend on what investigators ultimately determine about the weapon and motive involved.
Anyone with information about the suspect or the truck is asked to contact the Kelso Police Department or non-emergency dispatch at 360-762-6800.
