Victim of Tuesday’s shooting in East Central identified

The Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office on Wednesday identified the victim of Tuesday’s fatal shooting in East Central Spokane. He was William Poindexter, 45. And at a news conference Wednesday afternoon, Spokane police released new details about the shooting, which followed an apparent domestic dispute along Altamont Street near Fifth Avenue. Poindexter and his girlfriend were arguing inside a home on Altamont shortly before 10 a.m. The homeowner asked the arguing couple to leave. They went outside, where Poindexter began pulling, dragging and pushing the woman against a fence, police said. Although he was carrying a bat he did not hit her with it, police said. Edward Bushnell was walking down the street and intervened in the fight. Bushnell had a .22-caliber pistol in his backpack, which he set on the ground nearby, and also had a knife, police said. He began fighting with Poindexter and sustained a facial injury. At that point Poindexter and his girlfriend began walking away. Bushnell retrieved his backpack, pulled out the gun and fired three times, hitting Poindexter twice in the back, police said. Poindexter was taken to a hospital and died from his wounds. “We don’t want to say what he did — by trying to stop the assault — was wrong,” Spokane police Lt. Steve Wohl said. “Because we’re not going to say that.” The problem arose when Bushnell took the matter into his own hands, Wohl said. Bushnell had a cellphone in his pocket which he should have used to call the police, Wohl said. Bushnell, 27, gave statements describing the incident at the scene, police said. He was booked into the Spokane County Jail on a second-degree murder charge later that day and is expected to appear in court this week. He does not appear to have a felony record in Washington.