In brief: Woman arrested in stepfather’s shooting in Colbert
Spokane County deputies apprehended a woman who allegedly shot her stepfather in the leg early Wednesday during a dispute in a Colbert home.
Jennifer A. Anderson, 38, is charged with first-degree attempted murder in connection with the incident. She is being held in the Spokane County Jail and is expected to appear in court today.
The call came in around 5:30 a.m. While deputies were en route, Anderson fled through a field behind the home in the 17900 block of North Hardesty Road and into a wooded area, the Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. Deputies caught her about a mile away. They also found a handgun in the area near North Boston Road and East Trevor Road.
The stepfather, whose name has not been released, was taken to a local hospital with a gunshot wound to a leg and the wound appeared to be non-life-threatening, the Sheriff’s Office said.
Following a reported assault in February, Anderson requested a no-contact order against her stepfather. In April, an unidentified suspect shot at the stepfather’s home, the Sheriff’s Office said. The stepfather told deputies he thought Anderson was the shooter in that incident, too.
Pride Parade set for downtown, park
Saturday is the 24th annual Pride Parade and Rainbow Festival in downtown Spokane.
The events hosted by OutSpokane will feature live entertainment, vendors, community organizations, a beer garden, a teens’ area, and a children’s area with inflatable houses, face painting and a gyroscope ride.
The parade will begin at noon at Stevens Street and Spokane Falls Boulevard. The festival, beginning around the same time, will take place in Riverfront Park’s Gondola Meadows and continue until 5:30 p.m.
Ombudsman panel loses commissioner
Spokane police ombudsman commissioner Adrian Dominguez said Wednesday that he has submitted his resignation but hopes to see the process of picking a new police ombudsman through before he leaves.
Dominguez said Wednesday that he’s moving to Seattle to be the new scientific director at the Urban Indian Health Institute.
“It’s just a position I could not turn down,” he said.
However, his new job doesn’t start until August and the ombudsman selection committee is scheduled to interview the top six applicants for the police ombudsman position next week. After the interviews the field of candidates will be narrowed to the top three finalists, which will be forwarded to the ombudsman commission for consideration.
The city’s police ombudsman position has been open since early January.
SUV hits four teens, killing two of them
BELLINGHAM – Authorities said an SUV struck four Washington teenagers while they were walking as part of a school physical education exercise, killing two of them and seriously injuring two others.
State Trooper Mark Francis said the Windward High School students were on a sidewalk Wednesday afternoon north of Bellingham when the SUV left the road and hit them from behind.
Francis said 18-year-old Shane Ormiston and 15-year-old Gabriel Anderson were killed.
Two 17-year-olds – Michael Brewster and Kole Randall – were injured.
St. Joseph Medical Center in Bellingham said Brewster was being transferred to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. The other boy is in serious condition.
The trooper said the 34-year-old driver initially said he fell asleep, but later told a patrol drug recognition expert he had used drugs. Francis would not say what drugs were mentioned.
Francis said William Klein of Bellingham was arrested for investigation of vehicular homicide and vehicular assault.
Plane crash kills one near Paine Field
MUKILTEO, Wash. – Authorities said one person died and another was injured in a small plane crash in a wooded area near Paine Field and the Mukilteo Speedway.
The Daily Herald reported the plane apparently crashed around 9 a.m. Wednesday outside of airport boundaries.
KOMO-TV reported the single-engine plane crashed in a brushy area near a McDonald’s restaurant.
Lt. Rodney Rochon of the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office said crews had to cut their way through brush to get to the plane, using chain saws and machetes.
Rochon said the injured man suffered bone fractures, but was conscious and alert when he was carried out of the woods to a waiting ambulance. Medics were not able to revive the second victim.
A spokesman for the FAA said the aircraft was a Beechcraft Bonanza.