In brief: Marijuana grower shoots man in head

A medical marijuana farmer shot a man in the head Monday who she said was trying to steal part of her backyard crop, Spokane police said. A possible accomplice was at large and may have been wounded.

Officers found one of the men in the 2100 block of East Empire Avenue about two hours later with a gunshot wound to his skull but “for whatever reason he was walking and talking,” said Officer Jennifer DeRuwe, spokeswoman for the Spokane Police Department.

The man, whose identity was withheld, was taken to a Spokane hospital for treatment but his condition was unavailable.

A neighbor alerted police to the shooting at 1023 E. Gordon Ave. at 10:20 a.m., DeRuwe said.

No charges had been filed in connection with the case, and officers were trying to sort out whether the homeowner was justified in shooting, DeRuwe said. The woman, who did not call police after firing the shots, has a medical marijuana authorization, DeRuwe said, though police were investigating possible drug violations.

Meghann M. Cuniff

Baumgartner’s bid for U.S. Senate official

State Sen. Michael Baumgartner made his run against U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell official Monday, announcing his campaign and setting up a website.

The Spokane Republican elected to the Legislature last year said he wanted to fight “the partisan bickering, the reckless spending and a confused foreign policy with seemingly endless wars.” He also accused Cantwell, a two-term Democratic incumbent, of putting the country “on a course of national decline.”

State Democrats were quick to brand Baumgartner as a far-right extremist for signing the 2010 Spokane County Republican platform that calls for such things as withdrawing from the United Nations, eliminating the U.S. Department of Education, returning to the gold standard and repealing the Endangered Species Act. Baumgartner has said the platform has about 120 planks; he agrees with some but has spoken out against others, such as withdrawing from the U.N.

Jim Camden

Police chase awakens man sleeping in Jeep

A convicted car thief took a man living in a Jeep Cherokee for a wild ride late Friday that nearly included a head-on collision with a Spokane police cruiser, officers say.

Tyray H. Munter, 24, who has previously led police on high-speed chases, is accused of stealing a white 1991 Jeep Cherokee that was parked outside the Union Gospel Mission.

The Jeep’s owner, Steve Wilkinson, told officers he was sleeping hard after a night of drinking when he awoke to someone driving his car as police sirens blared behind. Wilkinson said he’d never met the man before and asked him repeatedly to pull over, but he refused.

Officer Erin Blessing was en route to a domestic violence call when she saw the Jeep turned the wrong way onto Third Avenue. She tried to stop the vehicle but “it actually sped up even more” and drove directly at her.

Blessing drove up on a curb to avoid a collision. The Jeep was suspected in a rear-end hit-and-run crash at East Ninth Avenue and South Altamont Boulevard minutes earlier.

Blessing pursued the vehicle until it crashed near East Newark Avenue and South Arthur Street.

Meghann M. Cuniff