Woman shot while driving

Wed., May 17, 2006

Christopher Rodkey Staff writer

A woman appeared to have been randomly shot while driving her car in Liberty Lake on Monday night.

The 39-year-old woman was headed south on Liberty Lake Road near Country Vista Drive about 11:30 p.m. when she saw a car approach from the opposite direction, then heard a gunshot and felt a sting on her leg, said Liberty Lake Police Chief Brian Asmus.

Realizing she’d been shot, the woman drove to her home and called 911, Asmus said. The bullet had grazed her left thigh, he said, and the woman did not need to go to the hospital. Police were unable to locate the shooter.

The shooting seems to be random, Asmus said.

“The victim has no idea who the suspect might be,” he said. “She’s had no disputes or issues at work or in her personal life.”

The woman was unable to get a good description of the shooter but said the car appeared to be a 1960s-era full-size sedan with rounded headlights, Asmus said.

The shooting comes on the heels of another shooting early Monday morning in Spokane, in which police said a 25-year-old man was sent to the hospital after someone in a large red sedan pulled up next to him near the intersection of Division and Francis and shot him in the arm.

Although descriptions of the shootings differ, police are investigating the possibility that they are related, said Spokane police spokesman Cpl. Tom Lee.

“The preliminary indications are that the two shootings are not connected based on the locations of the shootings and the immediate descriptions of the suspect and the suspect’s vehicle,” Lee said. “However, the two agencies will probably be talking.”

Police in Liberty Lake found a bullet fragment in the woman’s car and sent it to the crime lab for study, Asmus said. Officers also are examining surveillance video from nearby businesses, he said.

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