EVERETT — An Everett man faces at least 40 years in prison for a shooting at a Taco Bell that injured three people.
A Snohomish County jury earlier this week convicted Shaquille Jones of multiple felonies, including assaults with a firearm. Jones, 22, is scheduled to be sentenced next week.
Jurors were told that Jones fired 13 rounds in 2015 outside the Taco Bell in the 7400 block of Evergreen Way. There were several people inside and outside the restaurant at the time of the shooting.
Three men, including a friend of the defendant, were hit by gunfire.
Several witnesses told police that an argument broke out between Jones and one of the Taco Bell employees who’d just gotten off work. The defendant made a disparaging comment about the employee’s pink bicycle. That man took off his shirt and challenged Jones to a fight, according to court documents. The men continued to hurl insults at each other.
Eventually Jones retreated to his vehicle and pulled out a handgun, pointed it at the employee and started firing. That man was hit twice in the ankle and backside. Jones shot another Taco Bell employee, shattering his femur. A third man also was caught in the gunfire.
“You shot me, homie,” the man said to Jones.
Police arrested Jones three days after the shooting. Detectives found a stolen handgun under the passenger seat where Jones had been riding.
The defense had argued that someone else pulled the trigger. Police didn’t find the defendant’s fingerprints or DNA on the stolen gun used in the shooting.
After four hours of deliberating a jury was convinced Jones was behind the violence.
Gunfire broke out at the same Taco Bell earlier this year. Two men came to blows during an argument. One of the men pulled a gun and fired at the victim. He was shot in the leg.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com.
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