Briefly

Reward offered in parking lot shooting

Secret Witness is offering a $500 reward for information that leads to the identification of man who fired a gun into a car with three people in it, Spokane Police said.

The shooting occurred June 17 outside Jack In The Box, 2732 N. Division.

The victims had driven into the parking lot at the restaurant about 12:15 a.m., when one of the young men in the car made a loud remark about a young woman with another group of teens standing nearby, said Dick Cottam, police spokesman.

Witnesses said a man from that group took out a small handgun, and fired several shots into the air. Then he lowered the pistol, and fired two or three shots into the car, Cottam said. The bullets hit the car and broke out several windows.

The victims left the area and contacted police.

The shooter was white, about 18 years old. A witness said a young woman standing next to him yelled, “Brandon, no!” Cottam said.

Anyone with information is asked to call Secret Witness at 327-5111. Callers are asked to use a code name or number, and do not have to give their own name to be eligible for the reward.

Fire hits area of steep terrain near Chelan

Chelan, Wash. Fire raced through an area of old-growth forest Saturday in steep and rocky terrain of the Okanogan Wenatchee National Forest.

The 15- to 20-acre fire was sparked by lightning Saturday morning in the 25 Mile Creek drainage, 18 miles northwest of Chelan on the south shore of Lake Chelan, said fire manager Marsh Haskins of the U.S. Forest Service.

Four helicopters dumped buckets of water on the flames, and three 20-person crews were being assembled to attack the fire on the ground, said Doug Jenkins, a U.S. Forest Service spokesman.

“Some people tried to go into the fire earlier but because there was no safe anchor point we pulled them out,” he said.

Haskins said the helicopters also were being used to try to develop an anchor point.

Jenkins said the fire was expected to reach the only remaining old-growth forest area in the 25 Mile Creek drainage. Vacationers and campers in the area were not in danger, he said.

No homes were threatened. The fire was about 4 1/2 miles from structures, Haskins said.

South of Rock Island Dam in Douglas County, crews contained a fire that burned 500 acres near the Columbia River Siding, said firefighter Scott Miller of Douglas County Fire District 2. The cause of the fire was being investigated.

To the north, the Freezeout Fire was burning between 100 and 400 acres in the northwest portion of the Pasayten Wilderness one mile south of the Canadian border. Officials from both nations were meeting to decide the best course of action.

Four arrested after I-90 shooting

Seattle Four men were arrested following an afternoon shooting on I-90 near Issaquah Saturday – three in the shooter’s car and one victim, the Washington State Patrol reported.

At 1 p.m. Saturday, following a verbal exchange between men in two eastbound vehicles near the High Point exit, at least one person picked up a gun and started firing, Lt. Robert Reandeau said.

He said the victims’ vehicle was struck eight to 10 times on its right side and one of the two men in that car was shot in the leg.

A trooper in the area, about 15 miles east of Seattle, saw the incident and radioed in a description of the suspects’ car, he said. A few minutes later, 14 miles east of the shooting, another trooper stopped the shooter’s car and arrested the three men inside.

The injured man was treated and released from Overlake Hospital and then taken into custody on a $25,000 warrant for his arrest on an assault charge, according to the patrol.