December 19, 2011 in News, City

Teen burglary suspect shot by homeowner

Tags:burglarygunsshootingsSpokane County Sheriff’s Officetheft

A 13-year-old boy is in stable condition after being shot by a homeowner during an early morning burglary in Medical Lake.

No one has been arrested, and the investigation is ongoing. Spokane County prosecutors will decide whether to file charges.

The boy, who sheriff’s officials previously said was 14, and a 14-year-old boy were carrying baseball bats when the homeowner confronted him after an alarm alerted him to a break-in in an enclosed room beneath his deck. The home is in the 600 block of North Grant Street, according to the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.

The man’s wife called 911 about 4:50 a.m. and said her husband was holding a burglary suspect in the back yard.

“Minutes later she reported that the suspect had been shot,” wrote sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Dave Reagan.

The boy was transported to a downtown hospital, where he underwent surgery mid-morning, Reagan said. The second suspect jumped over a fence and fled through an alley but was later contacted at his home and interviewed.

The homeowner said the room had been broken into several days earlier. He didn’t report it to police, but he did install the alarm, Reagan said.

Deputies seized the .45-caliber pistol used in the shooting. Detectives expected to be at the home for much of today. The man has talked to detectives, “but there is evidence in and around the home that still awaits collection,” Reagan said this morning.

A suspect in the burglary at the home last week was arrested this afternoon after a blocks-long foot case in Medical Lake. Mitchell Adam Swift, 18, of Medical Lake, was booked into jail for residential burglary and a municipal court theft warrant.

21 comments on this story so far. Add yours!

horse_feathers on December 19 at 11:24 a.m.
That’s gonna leave a mark
msterner on December 19 at 11:28 a.m.
“The second suspect jumped over a fen e and fled through an alley but was later contacted at hims home and interviewed.”
Oh, boy…
dataxman on December 19 at 12:17 p.m.
Stop them now before they graduate to rape and murder…
misjustice on December 19 at 12:34 p.m.
Obviously, these young men are early risers (based on the time of the break-in).
Maybe they need a paper route to keep them busy? Instead of breaking into folks homes they should be court ordered to deliver the SR. That’ll learn ‘em!
babydriver on December 19 at 1:45 p.m.
And the gun was seized why?
wallerrobin on December 19 at 1:50 p.m.
Note to thugs: Homeowners own guns! More and more folks are arming themselves. I think we’ll see more of this. Since the police don’t seem to care about our property, I guess we’ll take matters into our own hands!
misjustice on December 19 at 2:47 p.m.
I wondered the same thing Baby…maybe it wasn’t “registered” ????
Hope the home owner has more than one piece…
Spokane Indoctrination on December 19 at 3:05 p.m.
Good for him. It’s too bad the kids are so young… but consequences know no age. I can’t think of any other reason why they would bring those bats without the intention of using them on someone during the attempted burglary.
The_Seer on December 19 at 3:23 p.m.
And on the first day of Xmas break for these kids…. Makes the argument for year round schooling even stronger!
EricW on December 19 at 3:25 p.m.
First mistake, never bring a baseball bat to a gun fight.
Second mistake, don’t go to that guys house before he’s had his coffee.
Hope the kid recovers OK, pretty young to be injured for life or worse. Hope he and his criminal buddy share their early morning story with all the other would be youth hoods. EW
cdspokesreader on December 19 at 4:19 p.m.
Q6 says this may have been drug related. Makes sense why the previous attempted robbery wasn’t reported and why evidence is still being collected.
Pat O'Leary on December 19 at 5:05 p.m.
Maybe growing pot in the basement?
misjustice on December 19 at 5:31 p.m.
Even IF the home owner was growing pot it doesn’t give punks a “right” to break into the home…
Just sayin’…
*sigh*
Whatever happened to the sanctity of one’s home???? Even IF the home owner was growing weed, it does not negate his rights to privacy and security…
mrd on December 19 at 6:27 p.m.
Sometimes the home owner has to protect what the police can’t. A weapon is a nice thing to own if you are capable of using it.
RedCedar on December 19 at 6:41 p.m.
“…after a blocks-long foot case …”
Looks like they fixed the mistakes msterner found, but there’s still at least this one to fix. Maybe the S-R should do like wikipedia and let everyone edit the articles.
babydriver and misjustice, it’s my understanding that the police always seize the weapon(s) when investigating a fight. Theoretically, if the homeowner is cleared, he should get his pistol back. Some people who take their self-defense seriously deliberately keep a pistol they wouldn’t mind losing, either a cheap one they don’t care about or a modern one bought from a gun store and “registered” via the FFL paperwork as their regular carry weapon on the assumption that once it gets confiscated regardless of the reason, they’ll never see it again. Better, they figure, to buy a new .45 for $500 and lose it, than lose the family heirloom that grandpa brought back from the Big War.
Regarding the 13 year old burglars, why didn’t their father know where they were?
dumfolks on December 19 at 6:42 p.m.
If the home owner is growing (not saying he was, just going off of what others were speculating) then he needs to know other dopers will be coming after his stuff. There is no loyalty among druggies, the less of them around the better.
zelda on December 19 at 6:57 p.m.
I’m beginning to think that at least a quarter of the houses in Spokane County have grow operations in the basement.
RedCedar on December 19 at 7:01 p.m.
Bear in mind that growing pot is legal for personal use, etc. whereas breaking into a guy’s house and possibly attacking him with a baseball bat is not legal, no matter what the reason.
MrBloggy on December 19 at 7:38 p.m.
Since when is growing pot legal for personal use? Maybe in the fevered stoned brain of a Libertarian Party member but everywhere else it’s often a felony.
There are some property crimes the cops will still investigate. :)
Crusty1 on December 19 at 7:38 p.m.
Seer: I didn’t know that school started at 5:00am. Stupid statement on your part!
RedCedar on December 19 at 9:18 p.m.
Bloggy, I guess I should have qualified that by saying it’s legal if the quantity is small and the grower has a medical marijuana card. I guess I thought we could assume that anyone who likes to grow his own pot in Washington has a medical marijuana card.