SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. — A 16-year-old boy was arrested Friday in connection to a shooting that occurred in Spokane Valley back in August.
The teenager is charged with three counts of attempted first degree murder. The charges come after a months long investigation into a shooting at a Maverick gas station at 9009 E. Montgomery .
During the investigation, Spokane County Major Crimes detectives learned on Aug. 23, 2018, the man driving the victim's vehicle arranged to sell marijuana to the 16-year-old suspect over Facebook messenger. Officials said the victim enabled his location on Facebook messenger, allowing the suspect to track his location as he drove to the meeting in N. Spokane. Another man and a juvenile female both rode with the victim.
When they arrived, the teenage suspect approached the victim’s car and passed $100 to the victim. Officials said the victim didn’t have any marijuana and fled the parking lot with the money.
Then at 9:30 p.m., the victim and his two passengers pulled into the parking lot of the Maverick and parked. Before they were able to get out of the car, a gray Volvo quickly pulled into the parking lot. The suspect jumped out of the car and started shooting at the victim and his passengers, authorities said.
Officials said a bullet shattered the passenger side window. The victim put the car in reverse, backed up and fled the parking lot while the suspect continued to fire. Authorities said the victim later realized he had left his Facebook location feature on, which gave the suspect the ability to track him to the gas station.
Deputies said four .380 caliber casings were found in the parking lot and no one was injured.
The next day, a detective contacted the victim. Officials said the car’s passenger side window was shattered and the detective located a bullet hole on the dash, one to the hood, one to the front fender, the windshield and another to the passenger’s side windshield wiper. The detective also recovered a bullet which was lodged in the heater control.
On Jan. 18, 2019, a detective contacted the juvenile suspect, who was already booked into the Spokane County Juvenile Detention Center on unrelated charges. Officials said the suspect was nervous and denied involvement in the shooting during the interview. He was then charged with three counts of attempted murder.