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December 19, 2009 in City
Driver shot during carjacking attempt
Suspect in custody following brief manhunt near school
Investigators look at the car involved in a suspected carjacking and shooting Friday afternoon at Buckeye and Division in Spokane. The driver of the white sports car was shot by an assailant.
(Full-size photo)(All photos)
A Spokane man was taken to a hospital with a gunshot wound to his stomach Friday after what appears to be an attempted carjacking in north central Spokane.
Police converged on the Emerson/Garfield neighborhood near Division Street and Buckeye Avenue about 3 p.m., closing off most side streets and locking down a nearby elementary school as they searched for the alleged shooter.
The victim, in his 20s, was stopped at a light headed east on Buckeye in a white Mitsubishi when an armed man got into the car and then shot him, said Spokane police Officer Jennifer DeRuwe.
The alleged shooter, later identified as Joseph Ellery, 30, fled on foot, running south on Division Street, witnesses said.
About an hour after the shooting Ellery was tracked by a police K-9 and discovered hiding in a doghouse in the backyard of a home in the 2500 block of North Normandie Street.
Nicole and Timothy Reeder, who own the home where Ellery was found, were watching a movie when they saw plainclothed police officers swarm their yard.
“I was all spooked and went to grab my own gun,” said Timothy Reeder. Peeking through a small bathroom window facing the backyard, Reeder said he “realized they were police,” and saw Ellery lying on his stomach in the doghouse. The police dog bit the suspect several times, and police officers pulled an uncooperative Ellery out, the Reeders said.
“(Timothy) told me to get down. I hid in the bathroom,” Nicole Reeder said. “I was pretty scared.”
The couple said they were planning to throw the doghouse – left by the previous homeowners – in the trash, but hadn’t gotten to it yet.
Few details were available late Friday, but police don’t think this was a random incident. The nature of the relationship between Ellery and the victim is unclear, DeRuwe said.
Witnesses said the victim scuffled with Ellery after he climbed into the car, before Ellery allegedly shot him.
After being shot, the victim got out of his car and collapsed at the car’s rear bumper, DeRuwe said.
Another driver, also eastbound on Buckeye next to the victim’s car at the light, got out and tried to help him, said employees at the nearby Starbucks coffee shop.
Employees said the woman came to the shop after the incident and was distraught; she mentioned to them she tried to help the victim stay calm while waiting for paramedics to arrive.
Because Ellery was potentially armed, police locked down nearby Garfield Elementary School just before the end of the school day. Students were released about 4:30 p.m., after Ellery had been located and taken into custody.
Police later found the gun believed to have been used in the attack behind the Party Palace on North Division, about a block south of the shooting.
The victim, who was not identified, was in critical condition Friday at a local hospital, DeRuwe said.
Ellery was booked into the Spokane County Jail on first-degree assault charges.
Past and present 
liarsinnews on December 19 at 7:11 a.m.
Spokane for years and years has been listed in Sperling inc., a company that is used by many cities, counties and states through out the country, that keeps track of stats re schools, incomes, housing, crime, etc., and the Lilac City has always been far above the national average in the (every) crime category. I`ve furnished several city councils copies of Sperling`s reporting using apples to apples, to no avail. Seems to me, crime has been running amok in our city for so long but those in charge are sweeping the stuff under the rug. Things NEVER GET BETTER THAT WAY.
lewis8457 on December 19 at 9:49 a.m.
With a city administration and police department that operate on the wrong side of the law it will be hard to get the average citizen to look at the law the same again. Add to that high unemployment and that makes a volatile environment.
Folks your life is worth more then a car, let them have it hopefully they will get in a accident on the way back to the hide out.
monicarae1984 on December 19 at 10:00 a.m.
Spokane police department really needs to get all the real facts before releasing police reports to the media……..I know the shooter personally and this was not a car jacking this was self defense. The real story was that the passenger entered the vehicle and the driver pulled a gun on him so the passenger and driver struggled over the gun and in the process the passenger shot him. He only tried to take the vehicle because he wanted to get away not cuz he was trying to jack the car. He shot him in self defense!!!! The spokane police department needs to get all the facts from all parties not from some lady that doesn’t even know what is going on inside the vehicle.
biasedopinion on December 19 at 7:43 p.m.
“He only tried to take the vehicle because he wanted to get away not cuz he was trying to jack the car. He shot him in self defense!!!!”
So what did he need to get away from? If it was truly self-defense then why try to steal the car to “get away”??
Makes no sense.