MOSES LAKE, Wash. — Multiple federal agencies are teaming up to locate two suspects wanted in connection to a drive-by shooting that killed a 14-year-old boy in Moses Lake and left four others injured.
On March 21, five people were shot while inside a car on Loop Drive in Moses Lake.
A 14-year-old boy inside the car was killed. The other people injured include a 26-year-old woman, two 17-year-olds and a 13-year-old.
Around two hours later, police say a suspect car was found abandoned on Buell Street in Moses Lake. Moses Lake PD confirmed the car was impounded and searched, and based on evidence, detectives obtained a search warrant for a home on Buell Drive. The Moses Lake Regional Tactical Response Team served the warrant on Saturday afternoon, but confirmed that the residents of the Buell home were not suspects in the shooting.
Police said that none of the victims had gang affiliation or were involved in criminal activity.
The U.S. Marshals Pacific Northwest Violent Offender Task Force are now working with the Moses Lake Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Washington Department of Corrections, U.S. Border Patrol and the FBI to track down two fugitives believed to be involved in the drive-by shooting.
A reward of up to $10,000 ($5,000 per suspect) is available for information leading directly to their arrests.
The suspects have been identified as 20-year-old Jose Beltran and 18-year-old Matthew Valdez.
Beltran is about 5′7″ and weighs 200 pounds. Valdez is approximately 5′8″ and weighs around 130 pounds. They both have dark hair and may have a mustache and goatee.
The suspects should be considered armed and dangerous.
A third suspect, a teen, was arrested on March 24. The teen was arrested after being brought into the hospital with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the leg.
That teen has been charged with first-degree murder.
Arrest warrants for the two remaining fugitives were issued March 25, charging both with murder in the first degree, five counts of assault in the first degree, drive-by shooting, and felon in possession of a firearm.
Anyone with information is urged to contact the nearest U.S. Marshals office or local law enforcement, the U.S. Marshals Service Communications Center at 1-800-336-0102, or USMS Tips.
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