Three more arrests made in connection to Coeur d’Alene Memorial Day shooting
UPDATED: Tue., June 15, 2021
Police arrested three people Monday in connection with at Memorial Day drug-related shooting in Coeur d’Alene that left a 20-year-old man dead.
Vadin K. Bartlett, 18, and two 17-year-olds were arrested on suspicion of attempted robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery, among other charges.
The arrests come three weeks after Gabriel Casper was found dead on a Coeur d’Alene street after a drug deal gone wrong.
Bartlett allegedly was one of the two teens with Casper as they attempted to rob another teen from whom they were supposedly set to buy drugs.
The drugs involved were oxycodone pills laced with synthetic fentanyl, officers said.
According to a Drug Threat Assessment released by the Drug Enforcement Administration, such pills are called “mexi-blues” and are specifically cited as being more available and abused in Washington during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Matthew Holmberg, 19, and Dennen T.G. Fitterer-Usher, 23, were arrested June 1 in connection with the shooting .
Fitterer-Usher told KHQ he was the one who shot Casper, but it was self-defense, saying Casper and one of the friends put a gun to both his and Holmberg’s heads as soon as they got in the car.
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