One Dead in East Wenatchee Shooting

The Douglas County Sheriff's Office is investigating a fatal shooting that happened near Pangborn Airport early Monday morning.

Deputies say they were flagged down by the driver of a vehicle in 200 block of Grant Road at 1:18 a.m. and discovered a passenger inside the vehicle with a gunshot wound to the torso.

Twenty-three-year-old Elias A. Mora-Ontiveros of Rock Island was treated by deputies at the scene and transported to Central Washington Hospital where he later died.

"Through their investigation, detectives found that the gunshot stemmed from what appeared to be a verbal argument which occurred in the 10 block of South Union Avenue in East Wenatchee," says Douglas County Undersheriff Tyler Caille. "Detectives are still actively working to contact witnesses and process the crime scene."

Caille adds the shooting is being investigated as a homicide and the circumstances surrounding the incident are still unclear.

"Detectives are still working all angles. Whether this was gang related, drug related, or just a general disturbance is still unknown. So we are not settling on any one of those individual possibilities right now."

The sheriff's office is receiving assistance on the investigation from the Washington State Patrol Crime Scene Response Team.

Detectives believe this is an isolated incident, and there does not appear to be any threat to the public.