Longview police report officers were dispatched early Nov. 3 to a row of apartments in the 1600 block of 11th Avenue after a man repeatedly told the 911 dispatcher, “I’ve been shot.”
Police soon learned the prime suspect was not a stranger, but the victim’s own son, who had fled the scene in a truck with another person.
Zachary A. Ekstrom, 23 — who police say doesn’t have a permanent home — pleaded not guilty Nov. 18 to first-degree attempted murder with a firearm enhancement.
Ekstrom’s botched reconciliation on Nov. 3 between him and his father marked yet another violent case in a year that started with Longview police fatally shooting a woman during a reported mental health crisis on New Year’s Day, followed the next month by a father and son stabbed outside a Kelso McDonald’s, and nearly capped off with a Halloween night double homicide in which a couple attacked each other and died from their wounds.
Cowlitz County Prosecuting Attorney Ryan Jurvakainen said his office reviewed five cases in 2024 that included murder, attempted murder, vehicular homicide and manslaughter.
These cases include the Lake Sacajawea stabbing in March and the Boondox drive-by shooting in August.
Jurvakainen’s cases do not include solved cases like the double homicide on Halloween night, the fatal crash that killed the driver and her passengers in April in Kelso, and the officer-involved shooting on New Year’s Day, as well as the unsolved fatal shooting in August near Wallace Elementary.
Despite the cases, local law enforcement leaders say there doesn’t appear to be a rise in local violent crimes this year.
Evidence of drug use
A public defender has been appointed to represent Ekstrom, who is being held without bail.
A judge issued three restraining orders against him, and his next court date is set for January.
Before the shooting, a police report states, Ekstrom consumed cocaine and methamphetamine and inhaled nitrous oxide from aerosol canisters before heading to his father’s apartment.
After someone told a joke, Ekstrom shot his dad six or seven times, causing 17 wounds to his elbow, both hands, one leg, both arms and his torso, the report states.
Nadean T. Hale, 44, of Milwaukie, Ore., was with Ekstrom before, during and after the shooting. She told The Daily News she was friends with Ekstrom.
A police report says she was sleeping in the living room when the first shots rang out on Nov. 3. She told authorities that when she tried to stand up, Ekstrom kicked her in the face and neck. But she ended up leaving with him and said she pleaded with him to let her out of the truck.
Court records show Ekstrom accelerated his vehicle and talked about going to Canada.
When investigators obtained a search warrant for the victim’s residence, they reported finding blood, shell casings, bullet fragments and bullet strikes, as well as evidence of substance use.
After Ekstrom’s arrest in Woodland, police also reported finding two guns in his vehicle.
During his interview with authorities, he reportedly said several times, “I shot my dad.”
The year in review
The Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs compiles crime data submitted from state law enforcement agencies each year.
According to the 2023 report, overall violent offense across the state were nearly 6 percent lower in 2023 than in 2022, but 2023 still saw a few thousand more reported violent offenses than in 2021.
The Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office reported two murders and no manslaughter cases in 2023, compared to two murders and four manslaughter cases the year before.
Longview police reported one murder and one manslaughter case in 2023, and none in either category the year before.
Kelso police reported three murders and one manslaughter case in 2023, and two murders and no manslaughter cases the year before.
Police departments in Castle Rock, Kalama and Woodland reported no murder or manslaughter cases in 2023 or 2022.
The 2024 report is not complete yet, but Longview Police Capt. Branden McNew said local violent crimes this year seemed similar to previous years from his perspective.
The majority of violent crimes are committed by people with a connection to victims, he said. If random acts were on the rise, that would be disturbing, he added.
“Violence towards a stranger is far more startling than violence towards known people. … Someone so bold as to rob and murder strangers, if we saw an uptick in that, (that) would be startling,” McNew said.
Cowlitz County Sheriff Brad Thurman agreed. He said the county averages two to three homicides a year and that 2024 does not statistically stand out.
Kelso Police Chief Rich Fletcher said crime rates across the nation have decreased nationwide but the opposite is true in Washington.
