In brief: Stevens County detective won’t face charges in Rice fatal shooting

Stevens County prosecutors will not seek charges against a sheriff’s detective who shot and killed a man armed with a shotgun following a firefight in Rice, Washington, this spring.

Brendan K. Wright, 41, fired multiple shotgun rounds at Duane Johnson, a detective with the Stevens County Sheriff’s Office, during the altercation March 25, according to investigators.

A homeowner had called Johnson, a neighbor, directly, saying an unruly man was acting aggressively outside his home. Before Johnson arrived at the house, the detective called dispatch and put on a Sheriff’s Office uniform, according to investigators.

Johnson found Wright sitting near the driveway of the home, and Wright began shooting immediately in Johnson’s direction, according to investigators. Johnson was wounded in the hand and ear, while Wright was fatally shot in the chest.

Three adults and two children were inside the home when the shooting took place, according to investigators. They told police they credited Johnson with saving their lives, according to the written decision not to pursue charges prepared by Stevens County Prosecuting Attorney Tim Rasmussen and Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Lech Radzimski.

Dog euthanized after attacking boy

A pit bull that mauled a 5-year-old boy Friday evening in DeSmet, Idaho, was euthanized over the weekend, and the dog’s owner was cited by Coeur d’Alene tribal police.

The dog attacked the boy as he played in his aunt’s yard. The boy suffered bites on his head and right ear and was treated at Kootenai Health in Coeur d’Alene.

The owner of the dog, a neighbor, was charged with “keeping a dog with vicious propensities” under tribal code, according to the police department.

STEVENSON, Wash. – Human remains found on Mount St. Helens have been identified as those of a 27-year-old Japanese hiker reported missing since November after indicating he planned to climb the southwest Washington volcano, the Skamania County Sheriff’s Office said Monday.

The Clark County medical examiner’s office identified the remains found Aug. 9 as those of Yosuke Onishi, Skamania County Undersheriff Dave Cox said. The remains were found near the 7,100-foot level on the south slope of the mountain.

Supremacist leaflets appear in Havre area

HAVRE, Mont. – Leaflets purportedly from white supremacists promoting a neighborhood watch group appeared outside homes in Havre neighborhoods, including one where many Native Americans live, residents said.

The leaflets bear the insignia of the United Klans of America.

A call and email to the national organization were not returned Monday. John Abarr, the head of the Montana chapter of the United Klans of America, said the group is organizing in Havre, but declined to provide details.