SPOKANE, Wash. — The man suspected of killing another man at his South Hill apartment reportedly got into a verbal altercation with the victim and called him a racial slur before shooting him, according to court documents.
56-year-old Steven Blain Bronowski is facing charges of second-degree murder, first-degree assault and drive-by shooting in relation to the March death of 28-year-old Ammar Johnson.
The shooting happened at approximately 5:15 a.m. near West 7th Avenue and South Jefferson Street on March 2, 2022. Spokane police say Johnson was shot at an apartment complex and found inside one of the units. There were no other victims.
Investigators did not believe that this was a random shooting and were able to identify Bronowski on March 10.
On the night of the shooting, a friend of Johnson was with him at his apartment. The friend said he parked his vehicle outside of Johnson's apartment at approximately 1 a.m. Shortly after that, the friend said he heard a car door close in the area where his car was parked and became worried that someone might be trying to break into his car.
Documents said Johnson left the apartment and walked toward the parking lot. The friend followed Johnson and saw he was "immediately in a confrontation" with a man, later identified as Bronowski, in the parking lot.
The friend said Bronowski was parked in a spot at the complex in a purple van. He described Bronowski as a white male aged 40 to 50 with a white beard. He also said Bronowski was drinking a Coors Light during the altercation.
According to the friend, he heard Bronowski call Johnson a racial slur during the argument. The friend said Johnson was "ready to fight the male" but eventually walked away from the situation. The friend said he left the apartment at approximately 4 a.m.
Johnson's friend who witnessed the shooting said he arrived at his apartment at approximately 5 a.m. on March 2. The two reportedly discussed going out to the apartment deck to smoke a cigarette. As Johnson opened the sliding glass door to the deck area, the friend recalled hearing a loud sound.
From the sliding glass door, the friend said he saw a purple van facing their direction. The friend told investigators he saw a hand sticking out of the driver-side window of the van. He then heard another loud sound and said Johnson fell against the sliding glass door and onto the floor.
The friend said he then realized Johnson had been shot, according to documents.
At the same time, the friend said he saw the purple van drive away. The friend realized Johnson was injured and went back into the apartment to call the police.
As police began investigating the shooting, an officer viewed a Washington State Department of Licensing photo of Bronowski. The officer then checked the local law enforcement database and found that Bronowski had a police report involving his association with a blue 1999 Dodge Caravan. Documents state the van is registered to Bronowski's mother.
After speaking with several other witnesses, police issued an arrest warrant for Bronowski on March 3.
Approximately two weeks later, documents state Bronowski was contacted by police in Coeur d'Alene for an unrelated crime. He allegedly gave officers a fake name and claimed to have hit his head, causing him to have amnesia. He was booked into the Kootenai County Jail as "John Doe" on March 18 but was ultimately identified as Bronowski.
Bronowski is currently in custody at the Spokane County Jail and is being held on a $2 million bond. He will appear in court again on July 12.
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