Man admits to shooting, injuring parents during apparent mental episode

A 22-year-old man confessed to shooting his mother and stepfather Tuesday afternoon following a fight spurred by his mental illness, according to court documents filed Wednesday.

Charlie Birkland admitted to deputies that he shot and injured his mother, Happi Jones, and stepfather, Clive Jones, then planned to turn the gun on himself.

Multiple witnesses heard screaming coming from the Jones’ home at 8905 S. Windmill Drive at about 10 a.m. Tuesday. One neighbor called 911 while the other called Clive Jones, who was down at the family’s barn.

Clive Jones got off the phone with his neighbor and called his wife, who said she was afraid of her son and he was having an “episode,” but warned her husband not to come up out of fear her son would hurt him, according to court documents.

Clive Jones went up to the house anyway because he was scared for his wife, he told police.

When he arrived at the house, he found his wife lying on the deck next to her son with an obvious injury to her eye.

Clive Jones told Birkland to leave and threatened to call police, he told police.

Birkland said “You’re not going to do that either,” Clive Jones said. Birkland then pulled out a black pistol.

The Joneses turned and ran. That’s when Birkland fired the handgun at them six or seven times, documents said.

Clive Jones said he felt three impacts to his body and back as he moved inside. His legs gave out and he fell down the stairs, according to court documents.

At the behest of her husband, Happi Jones fled the house to the neighbors’, where she stayed until police arrived.

Clives Jones was shot in his left forearm, left buttocks and left leg, injuries that required surgery, according to court records.

Happi Jones was shot in the back, which she didn’t realize until investigators pointed out that she was bleeding. She also had a fractured eye socket.

When interviewed by detectives, Happi Jones said her son had a history of “mental issues” that were undiagnosed but resulted in “manic” episodes, which happened weekly and sometimes daily.

On Tuesday, Birkland woke up his mother by making a commotion in the downstairs bathroom, Happi Jones said.

She yelled down for Birkland to cut it out. He responded by blaming his mother for how she “messed me up,” Happi Jones told police.

The pair began fighting on the upstairs deck, Happi Jones said. Then her son grabbed her around the neck and “manhandled” her down to the ground, where she hit her head.

Not long after, her husband appeared and the shooting occurred.

Birkland then allegedly fled the house in a green station wagon.

Deputies arrived shortly after the 911 call and spotted Birkland’s station wagon at a nearby fire station.

He was arrested not long after. When confronted by police, Birkland made several comments, according to court documents, including, “I committed murder” and “I, I, I shot my pa, or maybe even my mom too.”

That afternoon, deputies interviewed Birkland after reading him his rights, documents said.

He told deputies his stepfather was abusive; however, deputies noted the confrontation Birkland described sounded more like parental discipline than abuse.

Birkland also told deputies he didn’t like his stepfather because he was irresponsible with the keys and combinations to his gun safes.

About a year or two ago, Birkland secretly got a key to his stepfather’s pistol safe. He told deputies he intended to kill himself with a gun from the safe and loaded the weapon in preparation.

Birkland also said he had been angry lately because he was constipated.

The morning of the shooting, he drank five or six Coors Light beers before getting into an argument with his mother, document said.

Birkland went and got the gun before continuing the argument. He admitted to shooting his parents in an attempt to kill them and then kill himself, according to the documents, but in the heat of the moment shot at his parents until the gun was empty.

Following Birkland’s confession, deputies arrested him on suspicion of two counts of attempted murder-domestic violence. He remained in the Spokane County Jail as of Wednesday evening on a $500,000 bond.