Police hunt for car prowler with gun injury

A car prowler on Spokane’s South Hill may have shot himself during a confrontation with a neighborhood resident Wednesday morning.

Spokane police said a man found the suspected prowler inside his neighbor’s car at about 5:15 a.m. near the intersection of East 43rd Avenue and Arthur Street – three blocks east of the popular Rocket Market. He confronted the suspect and tried to detain him.

In response, the suspect warned that he would shoot and fired as he pulled the gun out of his pants, the man said in an interview with KXLY.

Police believe the gun, which has been recovered, belonged to the vehicle’s owner.

The man who confronted the prowler was not hurt and told KXLY that he heard the prowler tell a woman he was with that he had accidentally shot himself.

Police are searching for the prowling suspect, who they describe as a white man in his mid-20s, perhaps 5 feet, 6 inches tall with a thin build and beard. He was wearing a hoodie.

Police said the woman was wearing a backpack.

Following the shooting, the suspect fled on foot with the woman. Police searched the area and used police dogs in an attempt to track the pair.

Neither has been found, according to a police news release.