A 21-year-old Bainbridge Island man is hospitalized after his girlfriend’s estranged husband shot him following a high-speed chase and collision Oct. 12.
A 40-year-old Bremerton man was in Kitsap County Superior Court Oct. 14 charged with four counts: two counts of premeditated first-degree attempted murder (each carries a maximum sentence of life in prison and a $50,000 fine), drive-by shooting (10 years, $20,000 fine) and reckless endangerment (1 year, $5,000 fine).
A Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office Facebook post says the victim and his 31-year-old girlfriend were near the Kitsap County Fairgrounds in Bremerton around 5:30 p.m. The woman was meeting her husband so he could pick up the couple’s young son after a visit. The woman dropped her boyfriend off at the fairgrounds first so he would not be present at the exchange, and then dropped her son off with his father.
When the woman drove back to pick up her boyfriend, her husband drove by and shot at the couple. The two tried to drive away, but the husband pursued them, continuing to shoot at their vehicle.
Court papers say Kitsap deputies were advised by dispatch that two vehicles were chasing each other on Fairgrounds Road NW in Bremerton. A man in a white Mercedez car was shooting at a gray Prius car.
The Facebook post says while traveling northbound on Nels Nelson Road, the husband sped past the couple, made a U-turn, and rammed into their vehicle head-on. The husband and the boyfriend got out of the vehicles and started yelling at each other.
The Facebook post says that’s when the husband pulled out a .22-caliber handgun and shot the boyfriend in the abdomen. The wife got out of the vehicle, and the three of them began fighting in the street. The gun fell to the ground during the scuffle and was ultimately kicked out of the way and guarded by a witness. The two men ended up fighting in a ditch. A Kitsap deputy arrived to find the boyfriend holding the husband down in a headlock.
The Facebook post says the boyfriend was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. The husband was transported to St. Michael Medical Center in Silverdale from a blow to the head. He was later transferred to the Kitsap jail in Port Orchard, where he was booked. He was being held without bail.
Court papers say the drivers of the vehicles are married with a 9-year-old child who was in the suspect’s vehicle at the time. The child suffered seatbelt mark injuries on his neck from the collision.
A 22-caliber pistol was recovered from the scene. A loaded 22-caliber pistol magazine was located in the suspect’s pocket at the hospital. Two spent 22-caliber shell casings were found in the Mercedez. Shell casings were also found at the scene.
Three witnesses said they saw what happened as they were watching their kids play soccer at nearby Gordon Fields. Two females at an Olympic High School dance later said they also saw part of the incident. One, a mother, said she has a medical background and was going to help. But she drove away out of safety as the scuffle was ongoing.
