Two men arrested, suspected of shooting on Interstate 90

After swarming a downtown city block Wednesday night, Spokane police caught two men suspected of firing several shots from a car on Interstate 90.

The driver, Dustin A. Peckham, 27, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, unlawful possession of a firearm and first-degree reckless endangerment, Officer Brian Eckersley said. A loaded handgun was recovered.

The passenger, Nicholas L. Gillam, 27, caught after a search that focused on two buildings in the area bounded by Washington and Stevens streets and First and Pacific avenues, faces charges of reckless endangerment and burglary.

Police have not confirmed whether the men were shooting on the freeway, Eckersley said. “If we come up with a victim who was hit, or a car was hit, that would be first-degree assault.”

The incident began about 9:30 p.m. when an undercover officer was heading west on I-90 and heard four to six pops and saw what appeared to be a muzzle flash on the passenger side of a car. Another vehicle was traveling in an adjacent lane and could have been the target, the undercover officer said.

Since he was in an unmarked vehicle, he followed the car and called dispatch, said Eckersley. The car exited the freeway with the undercover officer following.

Eckersley said the vehicle began moving in an evasive fashion as if the driver suspected he was being tailed and finally pulled into a downtown parking lot. Two men ran from the car, a silver Chrysler Sebring. The driver was quickly caught, police said. The passenger was seen running up a fire escape.

He was found inside a building in the 400 block of West First Avenue about 11 p.m. Because he had contact with a police K-9, he was taken to Deaconess Medical Center.