Search for shooting suspect spurs three school lockouts

Published 12:00 am Saturday, April 24, 2021

Evidence of the shooting shows a bullet hole in the victim's car.

Wilfredo Peraza-Domenech is in custody after evading police in south Cornelius for more than three hours this afternoon.

Washington County Sheriff’s Department deputies responded to a shooting call at 5:45 a.m. Friday, April 16, at the 4500 block of Southwest Minter Bridge Road in Hillsboro.

WCSO spokesperson, Sergent Danny DiPietro, said Peraza-Domenech, 50, driving a 2002 blue Dodge Caravan, shot multiple times at a woman who was inside another vehicle, then fled south towards Cornelius where his vehicle was found parked in front of a residence near Mountain View Lane and Beaver Way in Forest Grove.

The shooting victim was not hit or injured in the attack.

Peraza-Domenech, upon seeing the officers, exited the vehicle and ran toward the property. Shortly after 1:00 p.m. a search warrant was executed and members of the WCSO Tactical Negotiation Team began searching the many buildings and vehicles on the property before finding Peraza-Domenech hiding on the property at 3:40 p.m.

DiPietro said that Peraza-Domenech knew the shooting victim, but details of their relationship and the identity of the victim have yet to be released.

During the search, three Forest Grove, Cornelius area schools were put on lockout, including: Fern Hill Elementary, Neil Armstrong Middle School, and Swallowtail Waldorf School.

According to a statement by the Forest Grove School District, all students at Fern Hill remained at home today and participated in Comprehensive Distance Learning due to ongoing police activity, while there are no students in the building at Neil Armstrong Middle School due to today being a designated day off.

Forest Grove and Cornelius police departments aided WCSO in the search.