An 18-year-old man appeared Monday in Clark County Superior Court on suspicion of a drive-by shooting late Sunday in an apartment complex parking lot in Hazel Dell.
Aaron J. York of Vancouver faces charges at a Dec. 30 arraignment of drive-by shooting, unlawful discharging of a firearm, unlawful possession of a firearm, obstructing a public servant, third-degree theft and reckless endangerment.
Judge Robert Lewis held him on $100,000 bail and appointed Vancouver attorney Diane Grecco to defend him.
A Clark County sheriff’s deputy heard several gunshots at about 11 p.m. Sunday after completing a traffic stop at the corner of Northeast Sixth Avenue and Northeast 99th Street. A passenger jumped out of the stopped vehicle, screaming that he saw a man firing a gun in the parking lot of the Parklane Apartments, 10223 N.E. Notchlog Drive, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in court.
No injuries had been reported as of Monday.
Court documents say this is what happened:
The deputy then drove to the apartment complex and saw a Chrysler PT Cruiser heading toward him. He pulled over the vehicle. Inside were York and a woman who was not identified in court documents. The woman told the deputy that she and York were at a friend’s house when he asked for a ride to Hazel Dell. She said she drove him to the apartment complex and parked.
“‘I’ll be right back,'” he told her. While waiting for him, she heard several gunshots. York then returned to the vehicle with a black handgun and sat down in the passenger seat.
“Drive,” he said.
“What the (expletive) did you just do?” she asked. “Did you kill him?”
“Don’t ask me anything; just drive,” he replied.
When the deputy pulled them over, she said, he hid the gun in the vehicle’s glove box.
Court documents and police have not revealed a suspected motive for the shooting or whether a particular person was targeted.
Sheriff’s investigators found five spent 10-millimeter shell casings in the apartment complex’s parking lot.
