Shooting victim may face charge
Published 9:00 pm Thursday, January 10, 2002
By Jennifer Langston
Herald Writer
EMONDS — A 16-year-old Edmonds boy was accidentally shot in the face last week with a gun he and another teen-ager stole from a house in Mountlake Terrace, police said Thursday.
The boy, who is expected to recover fully, will likely face criminal burglary charges once he gets out of the hospital, police said.
The victim’s father, who apparently knew that the two boys had stolen the gun but didn’t say anything, was booked into jail Thursday on investigation of possession of stolen firearms, police said.
The two boys stole five handguns and a BB gun from a Mountlake Terrace residence at the end of November, said detective Sgt. Mike Drinkwine with the Edmonds Police Department.
They were fooling around with two of the guns in a bedroom on Jan. 4 in one boy’s apartment on 75th Avenue W., cocking them back and pointing them at one another, according to court documents.
A .40-caliber Glock pistol accidentally went off and hit one of the boys in the face, the documents say.
The teen-ager who shot his alleged partner in crime fled the scene with a black bag containing the stolen guns, which he dumped. He was founding hiding in the woods by a Lynnwood police officer soon afterward.
The victim’s father initially told police his son had been shot by a stranger, in an apparent attempt to cover up the stolen guns, Drinkwine said.
The second boy, who has been charged in the shooting and the burglary, admitted his involvement in the accidental shooting that night, Drinkwine said. He led police to the place in the woods where he threw the bag of guns and told them about the burglary.
The boy went to juvenile jail on an unrelated charge shortly after the guns were stolen in November. He got out about a week before the shooting, Drinkwine said.
He had been under home detention. The day of the shooting he cut his ankle bracelet and ran away, Drinkwine said. The boy has had previous arrests for theft and stolen firearms, according to court documents.
You can call Herald Writer Jennifer Langston at 425-339-3452 or send e-mail to langston@heraldnet.com.
