Recently filed court documents show how Spokane Police on Monday tracked down the man who has been charged with Oct. 1 shooting in which his girlfriend suffered a bullet wound to the face: They followed the family.

   Joshua D. Graham, 30 appeared Tuesday before Superior Court Judge Annette Plese. She ordered him held on a $250,000 on the charge of first-degree assault and unlawful possession of a firearm.

   At the hearing, Graham’s mother, Donna Hilliard, claimed that the shooting was an accident and that her son didn’t turn himself into police because family of the victim, 19-year-old Justine Fry, had threatened to retaliate against Graham.

   But the whereabouts of Graham was solved after Detective Ben Estes learned that Graham had been in contact with Hilliard, and his brother, Justin Graham, who also appeared in court Tuesday to support his brother, according to court records.

   Acting on that information, Sgt. Joe Peterson and Officer Glenn Bartlett began watching Graham’s family and they followed Justin Graham as he drove to a home at 1117 W. Cleveland Ave. Just before noon on Monday, Justin Graham left that home with Justine Fry.

   The officers approached the home, according to court records, and talked to the home owner who confirmed that both Joshua Graham and state Department of Correction fugitive Nicholas D. Renn were in the home.

   Someone inside the home slammed the door shut, and Peterson and Bartlett called in the SWAT team, which was able to arrest both men.