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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Rockford Man Held In Shooting Of Cousin

A Rockford man accused of shooting his cousin last weekend was ordered held on $15,000 bail Tuesday during his first appearance in District Court.

James Donald McElfish, 60, was arrested early Saturday and booked into the Spokane County Jail for first-degree assault.

Thomas Eugene McElfish, 42, told sheriff’s deputies James McElfish shot him in the right shoulder while he stood on his cousin’s front porch in Rockford at about 1 a.m., said sheriff’s Lt. David Wiyrick.

After firing the bullet through a front window, James McElfish chased his cousin down the street, Wiyrick said.

Thomas McElfish managed to escape. He was taken to an area hospital where he was treated and released, Wiyrick said.

James McElfish was not at the house when deputies arrived. They found him later that morning and arrested him.

Detectives also recovered a .38-caliber handgun from an undisclosed location in Idaho. It is believed to be the weapon used in the shooting, Wiyrick said.

The shooting appears to have been in retaliation to a fight between the suspect’s father and the victim, Wiyrick said. The suspect’s father suffered a minor head injury during the scuffle.

But at James McElfish’s arraignment Tuesday, attorney John Clark argued that his client fired in self-defense.

Clark told Court Commissioner Virginia Rockwood that Thomas McElfish was drunk, crashed his car through the fence and was breaking into his cousin’s house when he was shot.

“(James McElfish) was defending his home, his property, his life,” Clark said. “He’s the victim.”

However, Clark’s argument did not convince Rockwood, who declined to lower McElfish’s bail.

, DataTimes