Loukaitis Faces Kidnapping Charges

Prosecutors filed kidnapping charges and other new counts Thursday in the case of a teenager accused in three schoolhouse slayings. A defense lawyer sought to have the trial moved to King County.

Both sides filed a flurry of pretrial motions in the Barry Loukaitis case to meet a filing deadline in advance of the scheduled Nov. 26 trial in Grant County Superior Court.

Prosecutors say Loukaitis walked into an algebra class at Frontier Junior High in Moses Lake on Feb. 2 and began firing a hunting rifle, killing teacher Leona Caires and students Manuel Vela and Arnold Fritz. Another student, Natalie Hintz, was hit by gunfire and seriously wounded.

A prosecution motion to amend the charges adds 15 counts of first-degree kidnapping, deputy prosecutor Robert Schiffner said.

The kidnapping victims include 14 students who were ordered at gunpoint to line up at the back of a classroom after the shootings, Schiffner said.

The 15th kidnapping victim was physical education teacher Jon Lane, who rushed to the classroom after hearing gunfire, faced down Loukaitis and was held at gunpoint, Schiffner said. Lane eventually managed to disarm the student.

Public defender Guillermo Romero requested the trial be moved to King County. The motion argues Loukaitis cannot be tried fairly in Grant County because of extensive media coverage.

Michael Cooper, the visiting Kittitas County judge presiding in the case, has scheduled four days of hearings starting Monday to consider arguments on the pretrial motions.

Loukaitis faces three counts of aggravated first-degree murder.

Loukaitis, 15, has confessed to the crimes but pleaded innocent by reason of insanity. The teenager, who was 14 at the time of the shootings, will be tried as an adult.