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The man accused of shooting at police officers after pointing his firearm at BNSF Railway employees in Chehalis last week has been identified and charged.
Jonathan R. Woodruff, 32, of Centralia, faces three counts of first-degree attempted aggravated murder and three counts of first-degree assault. A $3 million arrest warrant bail was set Saturday, Aug. 16. It was upheld at a preliminary hearing in Lewis County Superior Court on Monday.
The maximum punishment for aggravated murder is life without parole and $50,000 in fines. First-degree assault is punishable by up to life in prison and $50,000 in fines.
The charges against Woodruff were outlined during the preliminary hearing. Though details about the alleged crime were released by both the Centralia Police Department and the Mason County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) last week, neither agency had named Woodruff as the suspect.
According to the MCSO, the incident began approximately 9:40 a.m. Wednesday when local law enforcement officers were dispatched to the Mill Pond area in Chehalis. A male suspect was reportedly pointing a firearm at BNSF Railway employees while they were operating a train.
“When officers from the Chehalis and Centralia Police Departments arrived in the area, they observed a male matching the description provided by the BNSF employees,” the MCSO stated in its release. “Upon attempting contact with the male, the officers reported they were being fired upon and that the male was running through a nearby field.”
A section of Interstate 5 was shut down as a precaution during the incident.
“The subject was subsequently encountered by additional responding officers on nearby train tracks, where a standoff ensued,” the MCSO stated.
Woodruff was ultimately shot by a Centralia police detective. He received medical treatment for the non-life-threatening injury and was taken into custody. No officers were injured during the incident, according to the MCSO.
The Chronicle has since learned that Woodruff was cited just over an hour before the incident first began on Aug. 13 when he was arrested and released for two counts of possession of a loaded firearm in a vehicle. An activity log from the Centralia Police Department noted that the initial encounter took place about 8:13 a.m. that day.
According to court documents submitted by the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office, Centralia police officers discovered a motorcycle with two unattended rifles in the parking lot of the Dollar General located 405 E. Summa St. in Centralia. Upon entering the store, one of the officers noticed Woodruff inside carrying two pistols.
At the time, Woodruff was cooperative, and “explained that he had a friend that lived nearby who could assist him with storing and securing the firearms,” according to court documents. Woodruff was cited for the unattended firearms. The officers left the area.
About an hour later, a BNSF Railway employee made an emergency call about a shirtless man who was pointing a firearm at railcars as they passed through the Mill Pond area.
According to court documents, one Centralia police sergeant and two Chehalis police officers responded to the call. The sergeant described hearing the two Chehalis officers “broadcast that they could see a shirtless male in a field near Mill Pond and that they were going to approach to identify him.” The sergeant then saw the officers — who were in front of him — “make an abrupt turn” and announce they were being shot at.
The sergeant described witnessing the suspect discharge his firearm as the sergeant was parking his vehicle, explaining that “not only did he hear the discharge of the firearm, but that he could also feel the round travel past him on the driver's side of his vehicle.”
After watching the suspect escape to a wooded area, the sergeant and other responding officers set up a containment area. Though the sergeant was not at the scene at the time Woodruff was shot, he did hear “the broadcast of shots fired and units requesting medical aid for a subject that
had been shot by law enforcement,” according to court documents.
The probable cause statement submitted by the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office was drafted from information gathered by a Mason County detective. The MCSO led the Region 3 Critical Incident Investigative Team (CIIT) that took over the investigation after Woodruff was shot. The team is a multi-agency unit made up of investigators from surrounding jurisdictions.
In his statement, the detective reported that several shell casings were discovered in the area where BNSF employees saw the suspect threatening trains as they passed by.
“I was also informed that two rifles and a pistol were recovered near this location to include Jonathan's Triumph motorcycle, which is the same motorcycle that he was contacted earlier in the day by Centralia Police Department officers at the Dollar General,” the detective wrote.
A later search uncovered an “expended 9mm casing” near where the Centralia sergeant reported being fired at. A 9mm semiautomatic pistol was located in the area where Woodruff was apprehended.
On Monday, making a virtual appearance in Lewis County Superior Court from the jail, Woodruff was seen sporting what looked like a large, bulky bandage around one of his arms.
During the preliminary hearing, Defense Attorney Rachael Tiller said she was ready to assign counsel for Woodruff, but that Woodruff might speak with family about his options.
Woodruff responded that his brother was seeking an attorney on his behalf.
Judge Paul A. Strophy found that the $3 million bail previously set by Judge J. Andrew Toynbee was appropriate and chose to maintain it — at least until argument could be made by future counsel.
Woodruff is scheduled to appear in court Aug. 21 for arraignment and attorney review. He has no prior felony history in Lewis County.
