The Cowlitz County Coroner’s Office has identified the man who shot two people Tuesday afternoon in a rural area southwest of Battle Ground as a 33-year-old Vancouver man.
Brendan Bo Bowers died by suicide from a gunshot wound to the head, according to the coroner’s office.
The shooting was reported shortly after 4 p.m. in the 7400 block of Northeast 159th Street, which is in a rural area between Mount Vista and Brush Prairie.
The incident reportedly started when Bowers drove a different vehicle into a ditch in front of a residence and shot two people who went to see if he was OK. He was unknown to the shooting victims.
Both of the victims were shot in the legs with an AR-15 or similar weapon and were taken to an area hospital, according to emergency radio traffic monitored at The Columbian and information released by the Clark County Sheriff’s Office.
The shooting victims are a mother and daughter, according to a GoFundMe page. They were taking their Dutch shepherd named Xena to the groomer when they witnessed Bowers crash into the ditch.
The dog went after Bowers as he exited the crashed vehicle, according to the fundraising page. Bowers shot Xena, but she was able to run away to safety. Now, she is “at home in pain but alive” with her family, the page says.
Bowers reportedly turned his attention to the women. The bullet went through the daughter’s leg and struck the mother’s leg, causing a bone to break on impact, according to the fundraising page. Bowers demanded their car keys at gunpoint, the page says.
The women’s medical bills are covered, but the dog’s veterinary bills cost about $1,000, and they need help, according to a family acquaintance.
Bowers carjacked the victims’ champagne-colored 2005 Honda Civic and then fled on 159th Street, according to emergency radio traffic. He remained at large for about an hour.
Emergency responders were dispatched at 5:46 p.m. to 1258 Yale Bridge Road, just north of the Lewis River, and found Bowers dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. The coroner’s office said his time of death was likely 5:15 p.m.
At the time, the sheriff’s office said the man found dead matched the description of the shooting suspect, and a car matching the description of the one stolen in the carjacking was found nearby.
The sheriff’s office said Wednesday it would probably release more information about what transpired at a later time.
