A 30th District Legislative candidate was shot twice with a BB gun while campaigning, according to the King County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO).

Around midnight July 15, Pastor Carey Anderson, a Democratic candidate running for State Representative Pos. 2, and a volunteer were placing yard signs at an intersection near the 27800 block of 42nd Avenue South in unincorporated Auburn, according to the case report.

As Anderson placed a sign in the ground, a black sedan drove past and the driver — who appeared to be in his 20s — pointed something at Anderson and the volunteer, according to the report. Anderson told deputies he heard popping noises and suddenly felt a sharp pain in his left hip area. The driver fled toward Highway 167.

Anderson sustained minor injuries on his upper thigh; the incident report states he did not have a penetrating injury and there were no visible wounds.

“More than anything, I was surprised and shocked,” Anderson said in a July 15 news release about the shooting. “My first thought was, ‘what if this had been a real gun?’ It could have been a more deadly weapon, or the shot could have hit my face or caused more serious injury. But for this man to feel emboldened to fire a weapon at a Black man simply putting up campaign signs shows how much work must be done to end the rise in hate and anger in this country.”

Anderson, who is Black, is a senior pastor at First AME Church of Auburn and Seattle. The driver of the sedan was a white man, according to the KCSO report. The motives of the suspect was unknown, Anderson said.

In the news release, Anderson urges anyone with possible information about the shooting to contact the sheriff’s office.