Shot fired during domestic dispute

A former reserve officer for the Spokane Police Department appeared in court Tuesday after he was charged with firing a gun into the floor while arguing with his wife.

The bullet ricocheted and bullet fragments struck her left foot.

Spokane County sheriff’s deputies responded late Monday to 3101 W. Hallett Lane after the 63-year-old woman reported the shooting. Police did not release the woman’s name.

Deputies arrived and interviewed her husband, 75-year-old Thomas Kagi. He had already unloaded his Smith and Wesson .38 Special and had the spent casing in one of his pockets, sheriff’s spokesman Cpl. Dave Reagan said in a press release.

Deputies booked Kagi on a felony charge of second-degree assault. On Tuesday, he appeared before District Court Judge Patricia Walker.

“You admitted to pulling a gun to stop your wife from pushing” you, Walker read from a deputy’s report. Kagi told the deputy that he fired the one shot into the floor to show his wife that he meant business, the report stated.

Kagi and his son, Thomas Jr., build waste-oil furnaces in a shop outside Kagi’s Hallett Lane home. From 1974 to 1982, the elder Kagi worked as a volunteer reserve officer for the Spokane Police Department, spokesman Dick Cottam said.

Reserve officers don’t carry weapons. However, the department issues them uniforms and equipment, and uses them to assist commissioned officers with traffic and crowd control, Cottam said.

Kagi and the victim have been married about two years, Reagan said.

“Interviews with the couple indicated they had been to a counseling session Monday morning,” Reagan wrote in a news release. “When Thomas arrived at the residence later in the day, he found himself locked out of the home by his now-intoxicated wife.”

Kagi was able to enter the home but his wife became aggressive, Reagan said.

“He told deputies he fired a warning shot into the concrete floor to get her to back off,” Reagan said, “but the shell fragmented and she was struck in the foot with shrapnel.”

Kagi has no criminal record, but deputy Spokane County prosecutor Nicole Davis argued for a $50,000 bond based on the use of a weapon during a domestic violence assault.

Kagi’s wife told dispatchers he had access to more weapons, holds a concealed-weapons permit and was rated an excellent marksman, Davis said.

“We have serious concerns for the victim and community safety,” Davis said. “We take these matters very seriously.”

Kagi’s attorney, Phillip “Dutch” Wetzel, argued that a $50,000 bond wasn’t warranted, based on Kagi’s family ties, lack of criminal record and past work as a reserve police officer.

“There is no evidence of any prior violence at all,” Wetzel said. “There is an allegation that a weapon was used.” But the state is “not alleging that he intended to hurt anyone.”

Wetzel then argued against the state’s request for a restraining order, saying it would keep Kagi away from his business and allow his wife to remain in a house she doesn’t own. It’s owned in trust by Kagi’s children. Judge Walker interrupted the proceeding after learning that the victim’s sister is a longtime friend. The hearing was delayed as Walker removed herself from the case and court officials tried to find another judge to hear it.

Court Commissioner Randy Brandt took over the proceeding and heard arguments from both Davis and Wetzel regarding the no-contact order in a hearing that normally lasts minutes but ended up taking three hours.

Kagi’s daughter, Tina Kagi, an attorney from Missoula, said the family does not want the shooting victim living at her father’s house.

“She’s an invitee. She can be uninvited,” Tina Kagi said.

But Davis argued that the state cannot require a victim of a crime to leave her residence.

“It’s my understanding that this is the house she has lived during the length of their marriage,” Davis said. “She had concerns for her safety and wants to remain in the Hallett address.”

Wetzel argued that the house was part of the Kagi family long before Thomas Kagi married her about two years ago. And Kagi can’t operate his business if he’s ordered to stay at least two blocks away from his wife.

“The owners of the home,” Wetzel said, referring to Kagi’s children, “are not going to allow her in the house. But they are not going to put her out on the street.”

“That sounds like what you are asking,” Brandt said.

Tina Kagi and Wetzel explained that they would be willing to pay for a hotel or even rent a home where the victim can stay.

“This is a wife who has resided at that location for two years,” Brandt said in response. “I’m pretty inclined to grant this restraining order. A cooling-off period at that particular location sounds appropriate.”

Brandt ordered Kagi held on a $100,000 surety bond or $10,000 cash, which the Kagi family was trying to organize late Tuesday.

Outside court, Thomas Kagi Jr. said he’s worried the stress may compound his father’s medical problems.

“It’s an unfortunate situation,” Kagi said. “It saddens me.”