One In Custody, One More To Find

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Story Published: Jan 22, 2009 at 8:23 PM PDT

By Sade Malloy

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Toppenish -- A tense search and SWAT teams come away with one man after the deadly shooting of a family man in Toppenish. But deputies say they're still on the hunt for at least one other suspected killer who's believed to be on the loose.

"This is the Yakima Police Department you are surrounded."

Less than 24 hours after 35-year-old Carmelo Ramirez was shot in his home near Toppenish, a tip led Yakima Police Department, K-9 units, Yakima Sheriff Deputies and SWAT to the corner of 7th Street and Lasalle in Yakima. The southeast neighborhood is where deputies saw two men who looked like their suspects walk down 7th Street then run into a house.

Captain Rod Light, Yakima Police Department said, "We set up a perimeter very quickly and are now doing a slow search of the block."
After a four hour SWAT deployment with flash-bang grenades thrown and K-9 officers at the ready, one person of interest was taken into custody. Deputies believe he's involved in the Toppenish murder.

"I was shocked when we came by and realized there were some serious problems going on over there," says Raquel Perez. Thursday neighbors of the slain man are still trying to piece together why some would shoot Ramirez. Action News was told by neighbors he and his family were kind and very considerate.

Estela Pineda says, "I'm really surprised because I've been living here for almost 22 years and this is the first time something really, really bad happened."
Phyllis Long, knew Ramirez says, "We've had shots around here quite often in fact the night before there were shots."

Deputies tell Action News they're working on a felony murder warrant for one of the suspects. We still don't know the name of the man taken into custody.

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