Argument reportedly led to shooting at mall parking lot, 2 teenage suspects arrested

Kitsap Sun

Two teenagers are in custody after reportedly shooting at a man and his son in the Kitsap Mall parking lot on Saturday afternoon.

According to Kevin McCarty of the Kitsap County Sheriff's Office, a 40-year-old man and his 17-year-old son of Neah Bay were driving on Silverdale Way near WinCo Foods around 5 p.m., when two teenagers, identified as a 16-year-old boy and a 17-year-old boy, walking nearby began shouting profanities.

On Saturday afternoon, two teenagers fired shots at a 40-year-old man and his teenage son at the Kitsap Mall parking lot.

After some words were exchanged, the man pulled in the mall parking lot and parked on the east side of WinCo, when the teenagers ran toward him and began shooting, McCarty said. No one was injured, as none of the shots struck the man or his son, but bullets hit two parked cars. A couple witnesses in the nearby WinCo parking lot told deputies they saw and heard the gunshots.

Multiple 911 calls were made. When KCSO deputies arrived at the scene, they were able to catch the juveniles near the shopping complex that houses Apollo Nail Spa, just south across Kitsap Mall Boulevard, after chasing them on foot. According to a probable cause statement filed in Kitsap County Superior Court, one of the firearms recovered from suspects, a black .40-caliber handgun, was confirmed to be stolen from its original owner in Tukwila two years ago. The other gun was described as a green and silver 9mm handgun in court documents, which was found on the roof of a business after the suspect was seen throwing it up there.

Court documents said video surveillance footage from the grocery store showed several shoppers at the parking lot at the time of the shooting, running from the gunfire. Seventeen shell casings were discovered by officers at the scene, and the truck of an individual who had been inside shopping was hit as well, according to the report.

The suspects, one listed as a Port Orchard resident and the second without an address given, were each arrested and charged Monday with two counts of first-degree assault in Kitsap County Superior Court.