Editor’s Note: Story updated at 12:50 pm on 5/11/26 to include new information from the Whatcom County Medical Examiner’s Office.
FERNDALE, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – A person was killed and a suspect is in custody following a shooting in Ferndale on the early morning of Friday, May 8.
City of Ferndale spokesperson Megan Juenemann says officers responded to reports of a shooting near the intersection of Ferndale Terrace and Hendrickson Avenue around 3:30 am.
The male victim, identified by the Whatcom County Medical Examiner’s Office as 32-year-old Jordan Cernich of Ferndale, was taken to PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center in Bellingham, where he later died from his injuries. According to the medical examiner’s office, Cernich died from multiple gunshot wounds and his manner of death was determined to be homicide.
Juenemann says the suspect fled the scene before officers arrived, but Lummi Nation Police received a tip about his location on Sucia Drive roughly two hours later. Officers eventually found the suspect hiding in a trailer following a multi-agency response that involved a Border Patrol helicopter, Washington State Patrol, the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office and Bellingham Police Department.
Lummi Police also noted that their new K-9 tracked down a gun that’s believed to have been used in the shooting while officers searched the area.
The 48-year-old suspect was taken into custody and booked into the Whatcom County Jail just after 3 pm. He faces a first-degree murder charge among other charges and remains at the jail on just over $2 million bail. He’s due to make his first appearance in Whatcom County Superior Court at 3 pm on Monday, May 11.
The shooting remains under active investigation.
