Three Youths Injured In Valley Shooting One Arrested In Spokane County’s Latest Gang-Related Violence

Name-calling erupted into more gang-related gunfire late Sunday in the Spokane Valley, leaving three people hospitalized with bullet wounds.

A 17-year-old boy was arrested on five counts of first-degree assault Monday night in connection with the shootings. Other suspects were still at large, and deputies were executing a search warrant late Monday at a Valley home, a sheriff’s spokesman said.

Torrey Lowery, 18, was shot in the chest and is listed in serious condition at Sacred Heart Medical Center. Two other victims in Lowery’s car - Heidi Hughes, 20, and Sabrina Lewin, 17 - also were shot, one in the knee, hip and neck and the other in the leg, wrist and finger. Deputies didn’t say which girl suffered which injuries.

Sheriff’s Lt. John Simmons said passengers in Lowery’s car “exchanged words” with three people in a gray Monte Carlo at Albertsons, 8800 E. Trent, shortly before 11 p.m.

Both cars then left separately, he said.The Monte Carlo had tinted windows with lettering in the rear window.

About half an hour later, the Monte Carlo pulled up next to Lowery’s car at Buckeye and Argonne, and someone opened fire. At least nine bullets from a handgun peppered the left side of Lowery’s car, deputies said.

Then the Monte Carlo, which was recovered Monday in Coeur d’Alene, sped westbound on Buckeye.

Two other males in Lowery’s car were not injured and managed to drive back to Albertsons, where they called for help.

The Monte Carlo had tinted windows with “La Raza Por Vida” written in pink on the rear window.

Deputies said the words are the logo for a local Hispanic gang. They translate to “the race for life.” The word “race” refers to Chicano people.

It is unclear whether anyone in Lowery’s car is involved in a gang.

“This was more than just a spontaneous deal last night,” Simmons said. “These people had seen each other in the past and had words before. There’d been name-calling before; … there’d been contact, and this had been escalating.”

A records check showed none of the victims has a criminal background.

Sunday’s shooting was the latest gang-related violence in the Spokane County:

On Aug. 9, two teenage girls were killed and another was injured when they were shot on the front porch of a Hillyard home. The killer sprayed bullets from an assault rifle at the house before firing off a dozen more shots down the street. A 15-year-old boy was arrested the next day.

In June, police said gang members had peppered a South Hill home with bullets, apparently intended for an 18-year-old who lives there. At least one handgun and one shotgun were used in the shooting. No one was injured.

Two teenagers were arrested in January for the slaying of Felicia Reese, whose body was found near Upriver Drive and the Centennial Trail. The boys told police they were gang members.

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The following fields overflowed: BYLINE = Bonnie Harris Staff writer Staff writer Gita Sitaramiah contributed to this report.