Small Town News

Medical Lake man shot in drunken struggle over pistol

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A 38-year-old Medical Lake man suffered a non-life threatening gunshot wound to his arm the night of Wednesday, May 11 when he attempted to disarm a friend who was threatening suicide.

According to a Spokane County Sheriff's Office release, a group of friends had gathered on the 400 block of North Walker Street at the home of a 43-year-old Medical Lake resident for beer and barbecue and were clustered around a campfire outside.

The resident was inside the house drinking wine and apparently was depressed over his wife's medical issues and some pending legal problems.

The victim's friend went into the house to talk to the resident and found him in the bathroom with a .45-caliber pistol. When the resident began pointing the pistol at himself and making suicidal statements, the victim attempted to take the pistol away.

During the wrestling match over the gun, the resident fired the pistol three times. One of the shots hit the victim in the arm. A person outside the house heard the shots, entered the room, picked up the pistol from the floor and threw it into the front yard.

Deputies who responded to a 911 call found the victim bleeding on the floor of the front porch and the suicidal resident inside the house. Both men, whose names were not released, were transported to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center. Police interviewed the suicidal resident and then drove him to a downtown hospital for psychiatric evaluation. He was later released into the custody of Spokane Mental Health.

The gunshot victim's wounds were deemed to be non-life-threatening. He told Deputy Sam Palmer that he was never threatened by the resident, and didn't want to get him into any more trouble. He declined further questioning.

Palmer ran a criminal history check on the shooter and learned that he is a convicted felon. He wrote a warrant request charging him with unlawful possession of a firearm.

During the investigation, deputies determined that the resident had fired a fourth shot into a refrigerator. The pistol, bullets and bullet casings were collected and placed on police property as potential evidence.



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© 2011 Cheney Free Press Cheney, Washington. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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