Police Call Targeted Teen Crips Member

Gang members used at least two guns to spray a south Spokane home with bullets Sunday, in what police are calling a “California-style” drive-by shooting.

The shooting occurred just before 4 a.m. on the 300 block of West 19th, next door to Manito Park. Police said Monday the intended victim, Mike Herbst, 18, is a member of the Grape Street Crips gang. He lives at the house with his mother, Lynn White.

“He said he doesn’t have any conflicts with any gangs, but it certainly doesn’t appear that way,” said John McGregor, a gang unit police officer. “Having your house shot up in the middle of the night is more than a hint.”

Herbst, who doesn’t have a criminal record, said he no longer is a gang member. Neighbors told police he still dresses like one, though, and has the word “Crips” painted on a fence at his house.

Some neighbors told police they suspect drug activity at the house, an angle that is being investigated, McGregor said.

The amount of lead pumped into Herbst’s home Sunday is identical to gang-related drive-bys in California, where entire streets are shot up for emphasis, police said.

At least one house next to Herbst’s also was hit. No one was injured. One piece of buckshot grazed Herbst’s head and lodged in the couch where he was sleeping.

“We hadn’t seen that level of drive-bys here before,” McGregor said. “(In California), they’ll spray the whole neighborhood with bullets, hoping one or two will connect.”

A shotgun and at least one handgun were used in the shooting. Police have no suspects. If the shooters’ car isn’t found, they probably don’t have a case, either, McGregor said. Earlier reports that police located a small white car used in the drive-by were false.

“I doubt there’s much of a follow to this if we don’t find that car or get some more cooperation from the victim,” he said. “At this point, neither seems likely.”

, DataTimes