A 20-year-old Vancouver man was sentenced Monday to 18 months in prison for shooting a teen last month near a busy central Vancouver intersection.
Fnj Kenneth pleaded guilty in Clark County Superior Court to second-degree assault and possession of a machine gun or short-barreled shotgun or rifle. He was originally charged with first-degree assault and drive-by shooting.
Vancouver police responded at 3:58 p.m. March 4 to multiple 911 callers reporting two people were possibly shooting at one another near the intersection of East Fourth Plain Boulevard and Fort Vancouver Way, according to court records.
Officers responded and found a boy, identified as Herber Romero-Lara, inside the nearby Burgerville restaurant, 2200 E. Fourth Plain Blvd., with a grazing gunshot wound to his back. Police recovered a firearm in a corner of the restaurant, according to court records.
In a statement from Romero-Lara’s father sent to the court for Kenneth’s sentencing hearing, the man said his son’s mental health has suffered since the shooting. He wrote that his entire family lives in fear of someone harming his son again.
Police could be heard on emergency radio traffic, monitored by The Columbian, saying they recovered multiple shell casings north of McDonald’s, 2110 E. Fourth Plain Blvd.
Romero-Lara reportedly told police he was at the McDonald’s with a friend. When they walked out, a male wearing a red shirt approached them and said, “What’s up with it?” Romero-Lara said he responded similarly. That’s when a man wearing “red bandana-style pants” pulled out a gun and started firing at him, according to court records.
Romero-Lara said he ran, drew his own P80 handgun and returned fire with two or three rounds before entering Burgerville, court records state.
Officers reviewed surveillance video in the area and saw a man, later identified by police as Kenneth, shooting a firearm. Kenneth then got into a car and drove away, according to court records.
A witness told police a group of people ran north on Fort Vancouver Way after the shooting. Officers contacted a group of teenagers who matched the witness’s description, including Kenneth’s brother, court records state.
Investigators viewed Kenneth’s social media profiles and found photos and videos of him posing with firearms, along with photos of the car Kenneth was seen on surveillance video driving away in, according to court records.
Officers also learned someone had called 911 about 15 minutes before the shooting to report five teens were waving guns around and taking photos of their guns on the dashboard of a car, court records state.
Police went to Kenneth’s residence and conducted surveillance. They saw Kenneth come and go from the car in which he left the shooting scene. They also followed him around Vancouver for some time before conducting a traffic stop and detaining him, court records state. A police news release said investigators arrested Kenneth about 7:45 p.m.
Kenneth declined to speak with officers, according to court records.
Romero-Lara appeared March 5 in Clark County Juvenile Court on allegations of unlawful possession of a firearm and unlawful discharge of a firearm. He was ordered to remain in juvenile detention and is scheduled for trial May 12, court records show.
