Three suspects have been arrested and charged for allegedly shooting a man in the leg at the “Jungle” homeless encampment on Friday, March 6.
Nehemiah St. George, 19; Taylor Sharie Burmaz-Cramer, 32; and Dylan Ian Collis, 24; each face one count of first-degree assault while armed with a firearm.
Detectives are investigating leads into a possible fourth suspect, known only as “Brandon.”
“The exact suspect who fired the gun is unknown at this time,” the Thurston County Prosecutor’s Office states in an affidavit filed in Thurston County Superior Court on Monday, March 9.
Prosecutors add that the four suspects seemingly “acted together with the intent to cause harm or otherwise commit criminal acts” against the victim.
Three suspects were arrested Sunday, March 8, in the Tri-Cities area following an Olympia Police Department investigation.
Detectives are currently working to process physical evidence, which “may lead to other arrests down the road,” Olympia Police Lt. Paul Lower said Friday, March 13.
Documents filed in Thurston County Superior Court describe the investigation from law enforcement’s point of view.
Officers were dispatched to the 3200 block of Martin Way East at approximately 12:02 p.m. on March 6 for a report of a male with a gunshot wound to the thigh. They were told that the shooting occurred at the Jungle encampment near the Pacific Avenue side, and that the suspect was wearing a mask.
The victim reported that he was outside his living structure when he saw two unknown white males on a nearby trail. He said he heard the men say something, “but he was unsure and then he felt like he was hit with something,” according to court documents.
He was transported to Providence St. Peter Hospital, where medical staff confirmed he had sustained a gunshot wound to his thigh, exiting through his buttocks.
The victim’s girlfriend reportedly told investigators that four people — Collis, Burmaz-Cramer and two unknown masked males — had confronted the victim at his living structure because Collis was “upset” about the victim "almost getting (him) arrested. "
She said she was “unsure how or why,” but one of the unidentified males shot the victim and fled northbound through the Jungle.
She said she followed the males as they ran. One of them stopped to face her, and produced a firearm from his waistband.
When she verbally challenged the male, he reportedly stowed the firearm and continued running.
Surveillance footage from a nearby building shows three male subjects — a short white male wearing a tan hooded sweatshirt, a black face mask and escorting a small black and white dog; a tall white male with a thick build wearing white and red zip-up with skull designs on it; and a tall, thin white male wearing a black leather jacket — park the Challenger and walk towards the Jungle shortly before the shooting.
The man with the dog has allegedly been identified as Collis. The man in the white and red zip-up has allegedly been identified as St. George.
Footage reportedly shows the man in the black leather jacket, alleged to be “Brandon,” moving and acting in a way that led detectives to believe he had a concealed firearm on his waistband.
The three males are later seen running back towards the vehicle from the direction of the Jungle and driving across the street to another parking lot at about 12:04 p.m.
A witness at a business attached to the parking lot reported seeing the same two white males park their vehicle in that lot every day for the last week and walk to the Jungle. When asked what they were doing, they reportedly said they were doing “outreach.”
On March 6, however, one of them reportedly said “let’s get the f— out of here” before they all got into the vehicle and fled at a high rate of speed.
Security footage shows the Charger turn onto Martin Way East and stop in two different parking lots — one at the Holly Inn in the 2800 block of Martin Way East and one at Unity Commons in the 160 block of Pattison Avenue Northeast — before fleeing the area at about 12:12 p.m.
“It appeared that the Dodge was attempting to hide in various parking lots,” an affidavit of probable cause reads. “This seemed to be consistent with the fact that officers were in the area quickly and responding to the scene around the same time the Dodge was still leaving the area.”
Officers canvassed the area and conducted a K9 track at the time, but were unable to locate the suspects.
Investigators obtained the vehicle’s license plate through surveillance footage and found the name of the person it was registered to, but that person did not match physical descriptions of the suspects.
Through social media, detectives learned that the car owner’s roommate, however, did match the physical description of the suspect in the white and red zip-up.
Detectives located the roommate, St. George, at his apartment in Richland. When contacted, St. George was allegedly wearing the same white and red zip-up seen in the security footage.
St. George allegedly told detectives that he, Burmaz-Cramer, Collis and “Brandon” were involved in the shooting at the Jungle.
He allegedly said that “he did not know who fired the gun but that a gunshot went off right next to him.”
St. George allegedly reported that Burmaz-Cramer had a 9mm handgun and accused her of threatening his life before, according to court documents. An empty box of 9mm ammunition was found inside the Challenger. St. George owns a shotgun, according to court documents.
Prosecutors note that St. George is taller than the other suspects and best matched the description of the gun-wielder provided by the victim’s girlfriend.
After the gunshot went off, St. George allegedly said, Burmaz-Cramer went back to her camp within the Jungle while St. George, Collis and Brandon began walking towards Martin Way, pursued by the victim’s girlfriend.
The three men and the dog then got into the Challenger and picked up Burmaz-Cramer at the Unity Commons parking lot before taking back roads towards the Tri-Cities.
St. George reported that “there was no conversation about what happened in the Jungle or why it happened other than Taylor saying ‘you don’t want to know,’” the affidavit reads.
Once in the Richland area, St. George reportedly went back to his own apartment while the other three suspects went to stay with a friend in Kennewick.
St. George, Burmaz-Cramer and Collis each had preliminary hearings in Thurston County Superior Court on Tuesday, March 10. St. George was formally charged on Wednesday, March 11. Charges against Burmaz-Cramer and Collis were filed Thursday, March 12.
Bail for Burmaz-Cramer and St. George is set at $10,000 each, according to jail records.
Collis’ bail is set at $12,500 for this case, but he is currently being held without bail for an unrelated third-degree assault case. He is also being held on an additional $13,500 bail for unrelated domestic violence charges.
Arraignment hearings are scheduled for March 17.
