A man allegedly shot at three people at a Lacey hotel on Saturday, injuring one.
The suspect, identified through court documents as Andrew Devon Shelton, 31, of Olympia, was located and arrested on Sunday, Feb. 15.
He now faces possible charges of first-degree assault, reckless endangerment and unlawful imprisonment.
Bail is set at a total of $200,000 — $100,000 for the first-degree assault charge and $50,000 each for the reckless endangerment and unlawful imprisonment charges.
The Thurston County Prosecutor's Office has until the end of the week to file charges.
An affidavit of probable cause filed in Thurston County Superior Court on Tuesday, Feb. 17, details the incident from the point of view of law enforcement.
Officers with the Lacey Police Department responded to reports of a shooting at the Super 8 hotel in the 100 block of College Street Southeast at about 9:17 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 14.
Next to a back door near the rear of the hotel, they found a 54-year-old man fading in and out of consciousness with gunshot wounds to his back.
The man was treated at the scene by officers and was transported to a local hospital by Lacey Fire District Three, according to a Lacey Police Department social media post.
Investigators later learned from medical staff that the man had lost a spleen, had stomach damage and had lost a significant amount of blood.
He was still in critical condition at the hospital as of Wednesday morning, according to the Lacey Police Department.
“The incident occurred over what appears to have been a dispute between acquaintances at the hotel, resulting in the suspect firing multiple rounds at the victim, his adult son and the adult son’s girlfriend,” the Lacey Police Department said in a social media post on Wednesday.
The victim had reportedly rented a room for his stepson and his stepson’s girlfriend for three to four days, according to court documents.
The girlfriend had reportedly met up with a man she met through an online dating app for a drink at the hotel on Feb. 14. She reportedly let the man — allegedly identified as Shelton — into the hotel and took him to her room, but he allegedly locked the door behind them, took off his shoes and several layers of clothing, then asked “‘Whatcha got’ in a threatening robbery manner,” according to court documents.
Shelton allegedly grabbed her and threatened to kill her when she yelled and tried to get to the door. She reported that she was eventually able to open the door, and he ran out without his shoes and top layers of clothing.
Surveillance video of the hotel reportedly shows a man matching Shelton’s description arrive at the hotel in a gray pickup at approximately 8:24 p.m. meet a woman at the side door and go into a room with her. The video also shows him running out of the room in grayish sweatpants, a white tank top and no shoes a short time later, leaving the hotel in his pickup at about 8:41 p.m.
The woman reported that Shelton called her repeatedly to ask for his clothes back. She said “she just wanted to be done with this encounter because she was nervous from it,” and allowed Shelton to pick up the clothes, according to court documents. Meanwhile, she and the victim’s stepson then asked the victim to come pick them up from the hotel.
Surveillance video reportedly shows Shelton arriving back at the hotel – on foot and wearing shoes and additional layers of clothing — at about 8:58 p.m. He is seen going back to the room he fled from and leaving with an armful of clothing, walking through the parking lot towards a nearby restaurant.
Soon after, the video shows him walking back towards the hotel, wearing a different jacket and different shoes and carrying a cellphone in his left hand. He is seen walking up the stairway towards the room and reaching into his front hoodie pocket with his right hand.
“His hand is seen holding an item consistent with the way a firearm is held, and a dark object is seen in his hand as he walks away from the camera,” according to court documents.
Meanwhile, the victim arrived at the hotel to pick up his stepson and the stepson’s girlfriend.
They had made one trip bringing their belongings to the victim’s car, and used the back stairwell to make a second trip back to the room.
As the victim was walking out the back door, his stepson and stepson’s girlfriend reported that “someone shot him, and he fell to the ground,” according to court documents.
The two witnesses said they took cover by running backwards away from the gunfire.
Video reportedly shows Shelton “shooting at them from across the parking lot and from a planter area in an ambush style shooting from the east,” according to court documents.
Investigators found that one bullet had struck the victim and gone through his back before hitting a way and landing in the entry way of the back door. A second bullet entered an occupied hotel room from an exterior wall and became lodged in an AC unit.
The guest in that room reported hearing a gun racking before shots were fired, according to court documents.
Two spent 9mm shells were reportedly found in a planter on the east side of the property with a direct line of sight to the back door.
The victim’s stepson and stepson’s girlfriend initially “claimed they didn’t know why (the victim) was shot and they said they didn’t have any altercations with anyone which was suspicious at the time,” according to court documents. The girlfriend reportedly disclosed the date to police after they recovered the surveillance footage.
She reported that she was behind the victim when he was shot “so she couldn’t see the shooter or provide a description from the shots fired,” according to court documents.
Surveillance footage from a nearby park and ride reportedly shows Shelton return to his pickup from the direction of the hotel at 9:17 p.m. and drive away.
Officers located Shelton’s vehicle leaving his apartment on Feb. 15, conducted a traffic stop and arrested Shelton without incident. Inside the vehicle, they reportedly found the cellphone used to communicate with the stepson’s girlfriend.
Detectives applied for and received a search warrant for Shelton’s home, where they found clothing worn on the night of the shooting and a firearm consistent with the caliber used, according to the Lacey Police Department.
“Great work to everyone who worked this case for getting the suspect in custody quickly!” the Lacey Police Department said.
