MOSCOW, Idaho — Four people were shot Saturday in Moscow by a man arrested later after a police chase that topped 100 mph, police said.
Three of those shot died. They were Moscow businessman David Trail, 76, Arby’s restaurant manager Belinda Niebuhr, 47 and the suspect’s adoptive mother, Terri Grzebielski, 61. Injured was Seattle resident Michael Chin, 39.
Moscow police were called at 2:31 p.m. to an office shared by Northwestern Mutual and an apartment rental company, said Moscow Police Chief David Duke. The man who called 911 said he had just been shot.
When police arrived, they found the caller and another man shot. They were transported to Gritman Medical Center.
At 2:37 p.m., police received a call about a shooting at an Arby’s. Duke said the restaurant’s manager was shot. Witnesses of both shootings described the same man.
After the suspect, John Lee, 29, was caught, police checked on people the he knew and discovered a fourth victim at about 4:45 p.m., Duke said. That person was at home within Moscow city limits, Duke said.
After the shooter fled Arby’s, Duke said police notified area law enforcement of the suspect’s car.
A Pullman police officer spotted it on state Highway 270 just entering city limits, said Whitman County Sheriff Brett Myers. He sped away, starting a high-speed chase that at times exceeded 100 mph through dense fog, Myers said. Whitman County deputies and Washington State Patrol troopers joined the pursuit.
The driver of the 2009 Honda Fit crashed on state Highway 195 just south of Steptoe, Myers said. He suffered minor injuries and did not fight arrest after the crash. Myers said he likely will be booked in the Whitman County Jail. But he was first taken to Whitman Hospital and Medical Center in Colfax, Pullman police said in a news release. When he’s released from the hospital, he will be booked in jail on a charge of eluding police.
