A man who allegedly shot another man in the chest Thursday night in a Washougal intersection says he was acting in self-defense, court records show.
Trevor D. Hauzenberger, 23, of Vancouver appeared Monday in Clark County Superior Court on suspicion of first-degree assault in connection with the shooting.
Vancouver defense attorney Angus Lee, who made a courtesy appearance for Hauzenberger, said multiple witnesses reported that the victim, identified in court records as 23-year-old Tyler G. Davis, charged at Hauzenberger and threatened to kill him.
Davis had intervened in a dispute between Hauzenberger and Haley Hauzenberger before he was shot, according to a probable cause affidavit in Superior Court.
More than a dozen people attended the hearing Monday to support Trevor Hauzenberger and stood up when Lee motioned to the courtroom gallery.
Judge Daniel Stahnke ordered everyone to sit down. “This is not theater,” he said.
Stahnke told Lee it’s up to a jury to decide if Hauzenberger was acting in self-defense.
Washougal police responded to 27th and F streets at about 9:45 p.m. Thursday for a report of shots fired. When they arrived, they found Davis lying in the road suffering from a gunshot wound to the chest, according to Washougal Police Department Sgt. Geoff Reijonen.
Bystanders and officers administered first aid until medical personnel arrived, Reijonen said, and Davis was taken to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center, where he underwent more than one surgery. He was in satisfactory condition Monday, according to a hospital spokesman.
Court records show Davis suffered several lacerated veins and arteries and a fractured spine.
Officers recovered a 9 mm pistol, bullet casing and bullet at the scene and identified Hauzenberger as the alleged shooter, court records said.
Hauzenberger told police he grabbed the pistol from his vehicle after Davis became involved in the altercation. He said he showed Davis the firearm and told him to leave him alone. Davis aggressively approached him, he said, and threatened to kill him. Hauzenberger said he then shot Davis one time, in self-defense, according to the affidavit.
Haley Hauzenberger told police that Davis caused the altercation to escalate beyond a verbal dispute and threatened Trevor Hauzenberger, court records said.
Neither Trevor or Haley Hauzenberger were injured, court records show.
During the hearing, Deputy Prosecutor James Smith said Hauzenberger has prior convictions for third-degree theft, vehicle prowling and bail jumping.
Stahnke set his bail at $75,000. Hauzenberger will be arraigned April 15.
