Associated Press
KELSO — A Longview man was arrested after as many as 50 rounds were fired from a shotgun, injuring three people at an apartment building near I-5.
Michael John Poage, 38, was held at the Cowlitz County Jail on $1 million bond for investigation of three counts of first-degree assault, police Capt. Vern Thompson said.
Poage had a probable-cause hearing Monday in Cowlitz County Superior Court, and was expected to be arraigned on formal charges later in the week.
A 20-year-old woman who was wounded remained in St. John Medical Center, where she was listed in fair condition Monday evening, a nursing supervisor said. Two others, a 49-year-old man and 17-year-old boy with facial wounds, had been treated and released.
Thompson said the episode began when a man drove a pickup truck into the doors of Northgate City Church in the north end of town around 8:40 p.m. Sunday, got out and starting shooting birdshot at nearby houses.
"I thought someone was throwing M-80s," said witness Rich Warner. "Then I saw that he was shooting into the apartments."
Thompson said as many as 50 rounds were fired from a single-shot 12-gauge shotgun, some toward traffic on the nearby freeway. There were no reports of vehicles on I-5 being hit.
All three of those who were injured were in or near a small apartment complex in the 1600 block of Minor Road.
Poage was arrested without resistance as he walked around the apartment building. He invoked his right to a lawyer and would not talk to police, Thompson said.
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