Suspect in shootings, burglary arrested
Sheriff’s detectives have arrested a suspect in a series of drive-by shootings this month in the Newman Lake area.
Detective Tim Hines said 20-year-old Kenneth E. Brandt, 5802 N. Idaho Road, is suspected in three drive-by shootings March 12 near Trent Avenue northeast of Spokane Valley.
However, Brandt was arrested Tuesday night only on suspicion of committing a first-degree burglary in which the pistol used in the shootings is believed to have been stolen.
Hines said Brandt and other suspects, whom he declined to identify, remain under investigation in connection with shootings in the 5800 block of North Idaho Road, in the 5500 block of North Haye Road and in the 5200 block of North Kenney Road.
A fourth drive-by shooting in the same area March 13 now is believed to be unrelated to the other three.
Hines declined to say why he believes the March 13 shooting, in the 4100 block of North McDonald Road, was separate from the others. No suspect has been identified in that case, he said.
All the shootings were near Trent Avenue and in the same general area. The McDonald Road shooting was in Spokane Valley, while the other three were just outside the city.
The McDonald Road shooting was believed to have involved a shotgun as well as a handgun, but the other three all were committed with the same 9 mm pistol, according to court documents related to Brandt’s arrest. Hines said the pistol is believed to have been one stolen in the burglary for which Brandt was arrested, but the connection has not been established.
According to court documents, Brandt confessed to burglarizing a home in the 5900 block of North Idaho Road and stealing six firearms, including a 9 mm pistol. He confessed to an aunt as well as to detectives, documents say.
The burglary victim identified Brandt as the son of a close neighbor. The victim said a 1,000-round case of .223-caliber ammunition was also stolen during the break-in on Jan. 15 or 16.
Weapons taken in the burglary, in which access was gained by smashing out a door window, were a 9 mm Ruger semiautomatic pistol, a Glock 10 mm semiautomatic pistol, two bolt-action .22-caliber rifles, a Remington 16-gauge semiautomatic shotgun and a Norinco MAC-90 7.62-caliber semiautomatic rifle.
Neither Hines nor the court documents offered a motive for the drive-by shootings. Court records show Brandt has no Spokane County criminal convictions.
The sheriff’s report filed in connection with Brandt’s arrest says detectives found the stolen .22-caliber rifles and shotgun in a storage shed at Brandt’s home, along with “numerous” .22-caliber and 9 mm shell casings. The stolen 7.62-caliber rifle was found at the home of Adam Bower, 4522 N. Campbell Road. Bower, who was not arrested, said he got the rifle from Brandt, according to the report.
Hines declined to comment on the whereabouts of the stolen pistols.
The first report of a drive-by shooting came from a woman in the same block as Brandt. The woman said she was watching television with her 9-year-old son about 8:30 p.m. March 12 when she heard two shots. She called 911 when her son spotted two holes in a bedroom wall.
The next report came an hour later, from a woman in the 5500 block of North Haye Road. The third shooting, in the 5200 block of North Kenney Road, is believed to have happened about the same time as the other two but wasn’t discovered until the next afternoon.