One teenager dead, four arrested in Sunnyside | Local

SUNNYSIDE – According to the Yakima County Sheriff's Office, Sunnyside police officers responded to a report of a drive-by shooting in the area of ​​Rouse Road and Beckner Alley late in the afternoon of Sept. 12. They requested a lockdown at Sierra Vista Middle School as a precautionary measure.

Officers located the suspect's vehicle, attempted to stop it, and began a pursuit. The vehicle eventually crashed near the intersection of Lester Road and Van Belle Road. All four suspects fled into a nearby cornfield. Sunnyside officers were able to successfully locate and arrest all four suspects. It was later determined that the shooting occurred outside of city limits, and the Yakima County Sheriff's Office took over the investigation.

Detectives were called to search and document the crime scene, take witness and victim statements, and interview the suspects. One of the four suspects was an adult and the other three were minors. The victim was a minor with a gunshot wound to the head and was still alive. He was taken to a Tri-Cities hospital.

During the initial investigation, officers contacted the District Attorney's Office and gathered enough evidence to arrest all four suspects for drive-by shooting and illegal possession of weapons. All four suspects were taken to jail.

When investigators returned to work on Monday, they learned that the victim had died over the weekend. The District Attorney's Office was informed of this new information and it was recommended that additional charges of second-degree murder be filed.