Another Car Window Smashed On Freeway Wsp Troopers Not Calling Latest Incident A Shooting

Another car window exploded on the freeway Thursday night, this time near the Barker Road interchange on Interstate 90 in the Spokane Valley.

Washington State Patrol troopers are not calling the incident the 11th freeway shooting, but said it is unlikely a rock kicked up from another car is responsible for shattering the car’s passenger-side window.

“The only conclusion we can draw at this point was an object shattered the window,” said Lt. Bruce Clark.

Troopers investigated two other reports of freeway shootings Thursday afternoon, but neither was confirmed. There were no reports on Friday.

False calls and people overreacting to windshield chips have slowed since a rash of reports flooded dispatchers last week, troopers said. Thursday’s incident happened on I-90 about 6:30 p.m., just west of the Barker Road interchange.

Otis Orchards resident Mark Nelson was driving home in his 1986 Chevrolet Cavalier when he heard a “loud snap or crack.”

Glass from the blown-out window scattered onto the passenger seat.

Nelson, who was not injured, slowed his car, but continued east to the Liberty Lake exit before stopping to inspect the damage. He called troopers from home.

“I’m not sure what (caused the window to break), but I don’t think it was a bullet,” Nelson said.

Troopers did not recover a bullet or any other usable evidence from the car, Clark said.

“No round went into the car, which is confusing to us,” he said. “We don’t know what we’re dealing with.”

Nelson suspects a glass marble flung from a sling-shot may have caused his window to shatter. The former sheriff’s reserve deputy supposed he would have seen a muzzle flash out of the corner of his eye if a bullet was fired from a gun. He saw no flash.

The fact that shattered glass was confined to the passenger side and not scattered about the car also made Nelson suspect a marble.

“The snapping, cracking sound that I heard is just about right for a marble smacking a window,” Nelson said.

Teresa Nelson, who was driving her van a short distance ahead of her husband, also did not notice anything unusual near the freeway.

“I hadn’t seen any commotion or activity,” Teresa Nelson said.

Troopers have no suspects in the recent rash of freeway shootings, that has included 10 confirmed incidents. They hope a $1,000 reward offered by Secret Witness, a civilian organization not affiliated with law enforcement, will lead to an arrest.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: HAVE A TIP? Anyone with information about the freeway shootings is asked to call Secret Witness at 327-5111.