UW student accused of shooting WSU football player arrested

The University of Washington student accused of shooting and injuring a Washington State University football player hours after the Apple Cup over the weekend has been arrested.

The Seattle Police Department confirmed to Pullman Police detectives that Jakori Buchanan, 20, was arrested Tuesday and booked into the King County Jail, according to a Pullman Police Facebook post. Buchanan will be transported to Whitman County for his initial court appearance.

Sone Falealo, the redshirt freshman offensive lineman who transferred from Idaho after last season, is expected to make a full recovery after being shot in the abdomen early Sunday morning while acting as security at an off-campus party in Pullman, according to Pullman police and court records.

Falealo was at the Aspen Heights Apartments at 3125 NW Cottonwood Lane with his two friends, Jaylin K. “JC” Caldwell and Xavier Thorpe, two other WSU offensive linemen, who were all asked to be security, according to court documents.

A woman told police Buchanan punched her in the chest and she punched him back after Buchanan tried to punch her again, according to documents. Falealo, Caldwell and Thorpe tried to intervene. Falealo confronted Buchanan, and Buchanan shot him, documents say.

Thorpe told officers he called police after he saw the suspect and his friends get into a dark sedan and drive away.

Video of the incident provided by Ronnie Rae, Buchanan’s attorney, depicts arguing and racial slurs on an extremely crowded porch before a fight ensues.

Buchanan appears to run away as his cousin Marque Madden is attacked by a few people while on the ground of the sidewalk and parking lot. Buchanan then returns to intervene and appears to pull a gun on Falealo, according to the video.

Others attacking Madden on the ground back away from the fight, seemingly after seeing the gun Buchanan had.

Buchanan and Falealo then engage each other, and Buchanan shoots Falealo as he falls backward. Falealo also falls to the ground, screaming in pain and the video ends.

Rae, a Bellevue attorney, told The Spokesman-Review the shooting was in self-defense, and Madden was hospitalized with broken ribs and a collapsed lung.

Rae said Buchanan, a junior at UW, and Madden were invited to the party where they “celebrated on tabletops” with other partygoers at the packed apartment. Rae also provided video of the two men dancing on tables before the fight.

He said the duo were told to get off the tables, which he described as a “kitchen island,” before they were “yanked off” after shouting pro-UW chants.

Rae said his client fell into a woman while getting off the counter, and the woman took offense to it, he said.

“As soon as they knew it, they were being beaten throughout the house into the front (of the house),” Rae said.

He said his client, who is Black, felt the incident was “a racially motivated treatment of him in an already stressful situation.” He said he didn’t know who yelled the racial slurs.

Rae said Buchanan then drove Madden back to Western Washington where court documents indicate Buchanan lives. Madden was eventually taken to a Tacoma hospital where he remained as of Tuesday afternoon, Rae said.

He said Buchanan was planning to go to Pullman Regional Hospital to have his jaw evaluated, but he didn’t make it because of his arrest.

Rae said his client’s mother was driving Buchanan back to Whitman County to turn himself into police, but law enforcement in King County intercepted the vehicle and arrested Buchanan Tuesday.

Buchanan had an arrest warrant, and Rae said law enforcement tried to contact his client the last few days.

“You also have to understand that he is a victim of this brutality and he has been damaged both physically and mentally about the actions that were taken,” said Rae, who described Buchanan as an “emotional wreck.”

Rae said he wanted his client to turn himself in by the end of Tuesday, so he could appear before a Whitman County judge Wednesday. He said he’s unsure now when he will be transported to the other side of the state.

“I don’t know what more could have been done to ensure that we would have had a swift hearing in this matter had he made it to Pullman first,” he said.

Rae said he didn’t know anything about the handgun that was used or who it belonged to.

Buchanan was booked into the King County Jail at 2:40 p.m. Tuesday and faces first- and fourth-degree assault charges, according to jail records.