A 16-year-old girl suffered minor injuries Wednesday when a man attempted to rape her in a parking lot under the freeway near Lewis and Clark High School, according to police.

Police said the attacker fled when two teachers drove into the parking lot and heard the girl screaming. One of the teachers called police with a description of the man.

Officers arrested David A. Elliott, 22, who was booked into jail on suspicion of attempted second-degree rape.

The alleged victim, who was not a Lewis and Clark student, told police her attacker had followed her for several blocks, trying to engage her in conversation. She said she refused to answer, and the man pulled her into the parking lot, punched her and attempted to rape her.

Moses Lake

Fatal shooting under inquiry

Grant County sheriff’s detectives said Wednesday they were investigating a shooting that left one man dead and another gravely wounded.

Chief Deputy John Turley said 25-year-old Frankie Corral, of Othello, Wash., was found face down, dead of an apparent gunshot wound, about 5 a.m. Tuesday on a dirt driveway near a duplex just outside Moses Lake.

A 20-year-old man, whom Turley declined to identify, was also found shot outside the duplex. Turley said the man had been shot in the head and remained in “tentative” condition Wednesday at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane.

Detectives questioned two witnesses – a man and a woman, both in their 20s – and jailed the man as a material witness. The woman was released. Turley declined to release any other information Wednesday.

BOISE

Simplot regains consciousness

J.R. Simplot, one of Idaho’s wealthiest men, regained consciousness and was in stable condition Wednesday after undergoing surgery at a Phoenix hospital for a head injury suffered during a fall after the Fiesta Bowl, a company spokesman said.

The billionaire, who turns 98 today, fell from his motorized scooter as he was leaving University of Phoenix Stadium. Simplot is the founder of J.R. Simplot Co., the namesake agribusiness conglomerate that manufactures agricultural, horticultural and turf fertilizers; animal feed and seeds; food products and industrial chemicals.

Company spokesman Fred Zerza said family members described Simplot as “responsive” and that there are no more procedures planned following the emergency operation at St. Joseph’s Hospital.