In brief: Police arrest person sought in hotel shooting

A person of interest in a fatal shooting at a downtown Days Inn in September is in the Spokane County Jail after he was arrested Friday on an unrelated warrant.

Police spokeswoman Officer Jennifer DeRuwe said Kevin Heaton, 35, was arrested Friday two hours north of Spokane in Metaline Falls.

She said law enforcement from the Patrol Anti-Crime Team and the U.S. Marshals Service arrested Heaton without incident on a felony drug warrant.

“They were looking to talk to him about his possible involvement on that Days Inn homicide,” DeRuwe said.

She said detectives will likely interview Heaton this week and additional charges could be filed.

On Sept. 13, police responded to shots fired at the Days Inn hotel at 120 W. Third Ave. and found Paul A. Haney, 33, of Yakima, in the parking lot, dead from gunshot wounds.

Detectives searched three hotel rooms and found additional weapons and methamphetamine, according to a previously released statement from police.

Heaton’s record includes an April arrest for his alleged role in a burglary ring. Police found large amounts of stolen goods, including motorcycles and guns, and seized about 3  1/2 pounds of meth and marijuana in the case, which included six other arrests.

Jennifer Pignolet

Lawmaker’s wife hurt in gun room explosion

BURLEY, Idaho – Fire officials say the wife of an Idaho lawmaker was injured when a room that they had converted into a gun safe exploded.

Amy Wood, the wife of state Rep. Fred Wood, was taken by air ambulance to a Utah hospital with second-degree burns on her face and hands after the explosion Saturday night in southern Idaho. Fred Wood, R-Burley, said he wasn’t injured in the blast.

Burley Fire Chief Keith Martin said the couple was eating dinner when the explosion occurred. Amy Wood was on the back patio – which is directly over the gun room – and the blast apparently caused the slab to collapse into the room below.

The cause of the explosion is unknown.

Associated Press

Motorcyclist injured in collision with bear

One person was taken to the hospital after a motorcycle collided with a black bear in Stevens County on Sunday.

A spokesman from the Washington State Patrol said the bear was killed in the accident and the person’s injuries were not life-threatening.

The accident occurred just before 5 p.m. two miles south of Northport on Highway 25. The road was partially closed for more than an hour due to the accident.

It was unknown if the motorcyclist was wearing a helmet.

Jennifer Pignolet