LEWIS COUNTY, Wash. — Three teens were arrested Thursday in connection with the killing of a store employee in Toledo in Lewis County.
Two of the suspects, a 15-year-old boy and a 17-year-old boy were also wanted in connection with an attempted burglary and an armed robbery in Florence, Ore. They were traveling with a 16-year-old girl who is believed to be a runaway. All three teens are from Redding, California.
Just before 9 p.m. on Wednesday, a 911 caller reported two masked individuals running out of a store on the 100 block of Mulford Road in Toledo. The caller said the two individuals left in a white Dodge pickup truck and that their actions appeared suspicious.
When Lewis County Sheriff's deputies arrived at the scene, they discovered an employee of the business who had been shot and killed. Based on the initial investigation, detectives believe there was a struggle over a firearm one of the suspects was holding during the robbery and the victim was shot. The vehicle that fled the scene appeared to match the description the 911 caller had given earlier.
The Lewis County Sheriff's Office (LCSO) sent out a press release on Wednesday asking the public for more information, after which the Florence Police Department advised the LCSO that the suspects appeared to match the description of two juveniles who were wanted in connection with multiple crimes that occurred in their jurisdiction. Florence police notified the LCSO that all three teens had been apprehended by the Sumner Police Department.
The 15-year-old and the 17-year-old are believed to be connected to an attempted burglary of a grocery market. Security footage showed two masked subjects attempting to shoot their way through the front door of the store with a shotgun that resembled an "AK-47 style rifle." The suspects left after they failed to break in.
Half an hour later, Florence police responded to a report of an armed robbery at an American Market located along the same road. The suspects were wearing masks and appeared to be using the same gun that was shown on security footage in the attempted burglary. The suspects stole cigarettes, smoking devices and an undisclosed amount of cash and fled in a white Dodge pickup truck with California plates.
All three teens were booked into the Lewis County juvenile detention center on charges of first-degree robbery and first-degree murder.