Three Men Charged In Connection With Shooting

Wed., June 16, 1999

By Adam Lynn adaml@spokesman.com

Three California men are in the Spokane County Jail, charged in a north Spokane shooting that sent passers-by diving for cover Monday, sheriff’s deputies said.

Jerett Lee Brown, Kerwin Maurice Hawkins and Johnathan T. Griffin were booked into the jail Monday evening, deputies said.

Brown, 30, was charged Tuesday with first-degree assault. Hawkins, 27, and Griffin, 26, were charged with first-degree rendering criminal assistance.

Brown and Hawkins are from Long Beach, Griffin from Torrance, deputies said.

Detectives said they believe Brown fired 14 rounds from a 9 mm pistol into a van near the Comfort Inn on North Division on Monday morning.

Witnesses reported seeing a woman and her three young children lying on the ground nearby to avoid flying bullets.

Investigators said they believe Brown, Hawkins and Griffin then fled the scene in a rented minivan.

The trio was arrested at Spokane International Airport when they tried to return the van about half an hour after the shooting. Authorities also recovered a bag filled with drugs and cash at the airport.

The shot-up van left the scene Monday. It was recovered Tuesday morning just a few blocks away, its windows shattered and its sides riddled with bullet holes. There was no one inside, and deputies aren’t sure if anyone was hit.

Records showed the target van was rented in Los Angeles recently, deputies said.

Detectives have declined to discuss a motive, but suspect the shooting may be gang-related.

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