A large police response was prompted by a 911 call about a shooting near Olympic Stadium in Hoquiam early Tuesday afternoon.
The caller reported a male was shooting a .22 caliber handgun at others at a residence in the 2700 block of Queets Avenue, said Hoquiam Police Chief Jeff Myers. Several Aberdeen Police Department units also responded to assist due to the nature of the call.
As units arrived, 911 dispatch attempted to reach the original reporting caller, who had provided a name but was not found at the location where she told police she would be. Myers said the cellphone was non-initialized — not currently in service but still able to contact 911 — so there was no way to call the witness back.
“Under the new police reform laws, officers are unable to use physical force unless there is probable cause (to) protect against criminal conduct, to effect an arrest, to prevent an escape or to prevent imminent harm of bodily injury to another person,” said Myers. “The name the 911 caller provided was not in our local computer system. There was no way to corroborate or verify the original information in order to establish probable cause.”
As officers checked the area in an attempt to locate any victims or witnesses — Myers told The Daily World nobody contacted nearby claimed to see anything — an officer observed a vehicle leaving the area about a block from the possibly involved residence on Queets Avenue. The front seat male passenger appeared to be attempting to hide himself and was known by officers to be associated with the residence in question, said Myers.
“As the officer turned around to follow the vehicle, the driver suddenly pulled to the curb whereupon the passenger fled on foot,” said Myers. “As there was no evidence of a crime at that point, the suspect was not pursued.”
The driver claimed he had just left the house and was giving the passenger a ride. The driver indicated he had not observed any sort of shooting because he had just gotten out of the shower, said Myers.
The driver did give consent to search the vehicle. Officers recovered a heavy, realistic appearing pellet pistol from the glove box which exactly resembled a Glock 17 pistol all the way down to the markings and logos, from the glove box. Myers told The Daily World it was probably the most realistic-looking Airsoft-type pistol he’d seen.
“Officers were unable to locate or contact the original reporting party, or locate anyone who was a victim or witness to the reported shooting; officers contacted the resident of the home to make sure anyone present was unharmed,” said Myers.
“It was determined the juvenile who fled the vehicle had outstanding juvenile court arrest warrants for probation-related offenses. Officers checked the area and will arrest the juvenile on the warrants if he is subsequently located.”
