Dispute over stolen phone precipitated Gold Bar shooting
Published 1:00 pm Friday, December 27, 2024
GOLD BAR — Authorities have arrested a suspect in a Christmas Day shooting in Gold Bar.
Just past 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, Bryan Waltner burst into a friend’s trailer in the 100 block of Croft Avenue, according to a police report filed in Everett District Court. An acquaintance in the trailer accused Waltner, 58, of stealing his phone.
Waltner, of Gold Bar, responded by shooting the man, 48, in the shoulder with a .380-caliber pistol, according to the police report. Investigators found a bullet casing in the trailer.
The bullet reportedly got lodged in the man’s shoulder. He was taken to Providence Regional Medical Center Everett, where he underwent emergency surgery.
The suspect fled the scene, according to court papers. On Thursday, investigators shared a photo of Waltner in hopes someone may have seen him. Around 2:30 p.m. Thursday, police arrested him for investigation of first-degree assault and unlawful firearm possession.
Waltner has two felony convictions, for malicious mischief and burglary in the late 1980s and early 1990s, according to police.
In a police interview, Waltner reported the man he shot had threatened to “split them open,” referring to Waltner and the friend whose trailer it was. He told investigators he got his pistol out of fear for his life. He acknowledged shooting the man, according to the police report.
Jake Goldstein-Street: 425-339-3439; jake.goldstein-street@heraldnet.com; X: @GoldsteinStreet.
