A 17-year-old boy is in custody on suspicion of attempted murder and assault following Saturday’s shooting near Rainier.

Scott David LaVelle Jr. of Longview was arrested Sunday night. Investigators tracked him to a rural home near Clatskanie, according to Columbia County Sheriff Jeff Dickerson.

LaVelle is suspected of shooting 29-year-old William M. Temple of St. Helens late Saturday night at a trailer park on Price Road in the Alston area west of Rainier.

The sheriff said Sunday that Temple was flown from St. John Medical Center to Oregon Health & Science University in Portland and underwent surgery for gunshot wounds at 4 a.m. Sunday.

Temple’s condition is unknown because a hospital spokesman said he is not listed as a patient, which indicates he may have transferred to another hospital or chose not to be listed.

Temple remains hospitalized, but that is the extent of the information available on his condition, Dickerson said.

LaVelle was booked into the Cowlitz County juvenile center Sunday night on an intergovernmental agreement because Columbia County does not have a juvenile housing facility. He is being held on suspicion of attempted murder and first-degree assault. LaVelle also had juvenile arrest warrants from Cowlitz County.

Dickerson said the decision as to whether LaVelle will be charged as an adult will be made by the District Attorney’s office. LaVelle turns 18 in February.

LaVelle surrendered without incident Sunday night after detectives investigating a lead in the area of Kukkula and Beaver Falls roads determined that the suspect was holed up inside a residence there along with others, according to a sheriff’s news release.

Oregon State Police officers arrested one of the other individuals, David Dale Coffey, 42, of Kelso, on a Cowlitz County Department of Corrections warrant. Columbia County authorities have not disclosed Coffey’s connection to the investigation.

Police learned of the Saturday shooting when dispatchers got a call at 11:23 p.m. from someone who heard shots near the trailer park. Deputies learned at the scene that Temple had been driven to the Longview hospital.

At the request of Columbia County, Longview police detained the two people who drove Temple to the St. John emergency department and impounded their Dodge pickup, which had been reported stolen in Multnomah County.

The driver, Ezra Douglas St. Helen, 23, of Rainier was booked into the Cowlitz County Jail on a misdemeanor charge of driving with a suspended license, and passenger Crystal Lynn Ard, 33, Rainier, was booked on a no-bail Department of Corrections hold. Both lived in the Price Road trailer park, Dickerson said.

Investigators haven’t yet determined if St. Helen or Ard will be arrested in connection with the shooting, Dickerson said.

Dickerson said Temple was staying at the trailer park but had an address in St. Helens. Police in that city arrested Temple in September on suspicion of methamphetamine possession and eluding police. The pursuit led officers to a known felon’s drug house in the St. Helens area. He was later convicted of eluding, but other charges were dismissed.

Dickerson said the shooting “might be” connected to the September incident but that hasn’t been determined. The investigation is continuing.

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