A suspect accused of shooting a toddler claims he acted in defense of his mother. A Mason County judge released him without bail on personal recognizance.
MASON COUNTY, Wash. — A man who is accused of shooting and critically injuring a toddler in Olympic National Forest said he fired shots to protect his mother from a car that was driving at her.
The 30-year-old man, who has not been charged, appeared before a Mason County judge Monday morning.
The deputy prosecuting attorney requested bail be set at $100,000. However, the judge released the suspect without bail on his personal recognizance.
The man’s arrest was in connection to a May 3 shooting that injured a 2-year-old boy. The toddler is being treated at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. Hospital officials said the boy was in critical condition as of Monday morning.
Mason County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a reported shooting on U.S. Forest Service Road 23 about 3:20 a.m. The incident happened “miles” up the road near a dispersed campsite. The 911 caller, a 34-year-old man, said he was “beat up,” and his 2-year-old was shot in the head.
The man and his wife, 32, drove the child to Mason General Hospital before the boy was airlifted to Harborview.
The man told deputies his family and two friends had driven to an area where a friend’s ashes were spread. An “older” man and woman confronted the group. They began arguing, and the older man pulled out a revolver, the 34-year-old told deputies.
The two groups began physically fighting before they got into their separate cars to leave.
When the 34-year-old man tried to pass the other car, a Chevy Tahoe, in his Jeep, he said heard at least six gunshots.
The 34-year-old’s wife told deputies she saw a different man and woman from the earlier fight approach the car and shoot at them.
While the family was at the hospital, deputies detained another man in the area where the shooting occurred. That man – the 30-year-old suspect – told deputies “these people came at my mother.” The man said the car “revved up” and began to drive at his mother before he “stepped in to protect her and fired off rounds.”
The man’s mother said she saw the Jeep pull alongside the Tahoe and decided to confront the driver. The mother said the Jeep hit or bumped her out the way and headed toward her truck, where her granddaughters were sleeping.
The mother told deputies the suspect fired his handgun into the air.
Mason County detectives found 17 shell casings at the scene. They said it appeared the bullets were fired from the passenger side of the suspect’s car into the Jeep’s windshield and rear hatch as it drove away.
The suspect was arrested on suspicion of three counts of first-degree assault.
The man’s arraignment was set for May 11.
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