Questions swirl around Sunday’s fatal drive-by shooting

The Spokane County Medical Examiner has confirmed the identity of a man killed Sunday night in a drive-by shooting in East Central.

Jason Allison, 35, died from “multiple gunshot wounds,” the medical examiner said. The manner of death is listed as homicide.

Allison was on the porch of an apartment at 3104 E. Fifth Ave., two blocks west of a Fred Meyer store, when at about 10:30 p.m. he was shot from a passing car. He was later pronounced dead at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center.

Spokane police say they don’t consider the shooting to be random.

Friends and family of Allison have had a hard time accepting the police theory. David Johnson, vice president of commercial roofing business Icon Corporation, where Allison worked since 2013, said Allison had no reason to be in East Central at that time of night – especially since he’d been bowling in Post Falls just an hour earlier.

“It’s really confounding why he wouldn’t have just gone straight home,” Johnson said. “It’s extremely surprising that this happened.”

Allison, who lived in Post Falls, has a felony record that includes a conviction of drug possession and accusations of unlawful possession of a firearm and possession of stolen property. Each of his three separate arrests and six charges were from 2010. He’s since had no criminal history in Spokane County.

Johnson and others were aware of Allison’s prior drug habits; however, they said it was no longer a part of his life.

“He was very, very proud of the fact that he was sober,” said Johnson. “I think a week or two ago he put on his Facebook page ‘Eight years no drugs.’ ”

Allison leaves behind two daughters. Johnson said Allison considered his children his “entire life.”

“He basically focused on work and his kids,” he said, “and that was it.”

Sgt. Terry Preuninger said Wednesday that detectives were still working leads. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Check at (509) 456-2233 and reference incident number 2019-20075369.