Police say a man left the party, got a gun and returned before two cousins were killed outside.
LONGVIEW, Wash. — A quinceañera with about 200 people inside AWPPW Hall ended in a double homicide Saturday night when two cousins were shot in the parking lot and a Kelso man fled police, authorities said.
The April 11 shooting drew attention because of what investigators say happened before and after the gunfire. Court documents say Andres Carrasco-Sanchez, 49, believed two men were flirting with his girlfriend through smiles and prolonged eye contact. Prosecutors now allege he left the celebration, retrieved a handgun from his shared home and returned to the Longview event hall before killing Cristian Garcia Segundo, 21, and Sergio Adrian Segundo, 30.
The gathering was a quinceañera, a birthday celebration marking a girl’s 15th birthday, and local reports said the hall was crowded when the violence broke out. AWPPW Hall sits in the 700 block of 15th Avenue, near Lake Sacajawea, in a part of Longview where late-night emergency lights would have been hard to miss. Police were called at about 10:45 p.m. after reports of a shooting in the parking lot. Officers found two people suffering from critical gunshot wounds. Both died. Longview police said the suspect vehicle was already leaving when officers arrived, turning the call from a shooting response into a pursuit.
Investigators later described the earlier moments inside the event as a chain of perceived slights. Carrasco-Sanchez allegedly told police that the victims and a third unidentified person had been making eye contact with his girlfriend and smiling at her. The affidavit said he perceived the conduct as flirting. Court records said he then went to a residence he shared with the woman, whose name was redacted, and got a handgun. The documents say he returned with the intent to shoot the person he thought was making advances. What the victims said or did before the shooting remains disputed or unknown in the public record.
The police chase wound through Longview after the shooting. Officers said Carrasco-Sanchez led them into West Longview before the route circled back through town. During the pursuit, investigators said he threw a semiautomatic handgun from the car window. Police later recovered the gun. The vehicle returned to the AWPPW Hall parking lot, where officers said Carrasco-Sanchez left the car and tried to run. He was caught after a brief foot chase and booked into Cowlitz County Jail. That sequence led to charges beyond murder, including attempting to elude a pursuing police officer and firearm-related counts filed by county prosecutors.
The victims were later identified as Cristian Garcia Segundo and Sergio Adrian Segundo. They were cousins, according to court documents and local reporting. KLOG reported that an online fundraiser had been set up for family support after the shooting. Vanguardia, a Mexican news outlet, reported that both men were from Tarímbaro, Michoacán, and had visas for apple-picking work in the United States. The report said state migrant officials in Michoacán had contacted the families and would assist with repatriation of the bodies. The killings therefore left grief across borders, from the Longview party site to relatives in Mexico.
One of the clearest public voices after the shooting was Violeta Segundo, who said Cristian Garcia Segundo was her boyfriend. She told KATU she was overcome after learning he had been killed and said she did not know the suspect. “I couldn’t handle it. I was crying all night and all day,” she said. Segundo said Garcia had left the party with her earlier but chose to return later that night. “They don’t deserve this,” she told another local station. Her comments stood beside the police account of the shooting, giving a window into the confusion felt by people close to the victims.
The case escalated quickly in court. Carrasco-Sanchez first appeared after being arrested on suspicion of two counts of first-degree murder. On April 15, the Cowlitz County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office filed an information charging him with two counts of aggravated first-degree murder with firearm enhancements. Prosecutors also charged him with unlawful possession of a firearm, attempting to elude a pursuing police officer and alien in possession of a firearm. On April 16, a judge granted the state’s motion to hold him without bail pending trial. He was scheduled for arraignment April 21, and later local reports said he pleaded not guilty.
Police and prosecutors have not publicly released every piece of evidence in the case. The court documents cited in local reports include Carrasco-Sanchez’s alleged statements to investigators after Miranda warnings. Investigators said that when he was told both victims had died, he answered, “It was their fault, they started it.” Prosecutors may use that alleged remark to argue motive and intent. Defense attorneys may challenge the meaning, context or admissibility of statements as the case develops. The public record so far does not show that the victims were armed, nor does it identify the third person Carrasco-Sanchez allegedly believed had also been looking at his girlfriend.
The shooting left AWPPW Hall linked to a criminal case even though it had been hosting a private family milestone. The scene shifted in minutes from music and celebration to police tape, emergency responders and a parking lot investigation. Officers had to account for a large number of people who may have seen or heard different parts of the night. Investigators also had to trace the recovered gun, document the pursuit route and separate rumors from witness statements. The number of people present may make the case rich in eyewitness information, but it may also make the timeline more complex for detectives and lawyers.
The next phase is expected to focus on evidence review, witness statements, firearm analysis and pretrial hearings before any trial date is set. Carrasco-Sanchez remains held without bail while the case moves through Cowlitz County Superior Court.
Author note: Last updated May 7, 2026.