In brief: Arraignment set in shooting death

The man charged with second-degree manslaughter in the shooting death of 20-year-old Ciara R. Hardin at a party last week told police he had nine or 10 beers and several shots of rum before he took out his .45-caliber pistol to show it off.

Chad W. Pratt, 20, appeared in Superior Court on Monday. He will be arraigned Jan. 14.

Pratt told police that Hardin had reached out and grabbed the gun, which somehow cocked the pistol. It then fired and a bullet struck Hardin in the back of the head at 1326 E. Newark Ave.

“I was just showing off the gun and I did not mean for it to go off,” Pratt said, according to court records.

Hardin died early Friday morning.

Smoking blamed for apartment fire

A fire that displaced residents of three apartments on the lower South Hill early Monday appears to have been caused by someone smoking in a bedroom, according to the Spokane Fire Department.

Firefighters responded at 3:30 a.m. to 1405 W. Eighth Ave., a news release said.

The fire was confined to an upstairs unit in that building, but two other units were damaged by smoke, and residents of all three units were displaced, the release said. Residents were being assisted by the American Red Cross. No one was injured.

The fire is estimated to have caused about $30,000 in damage.