A 19-year-old gang member allegedly opened fire on a rival gang member in Kennewick and missed, but managed to hit something else – a building.
One of the bullets pierced the wall, a few meters from a woman inside the apartment.
Just over a week later, the car Shady Montoya was in was reportedly linked to another drive-by at the corner of Volland Street and Hood Avenue. A man was shot and injured in the incident, according to court documents.
Montoya is being held in Benton County Jail on suspicion of drive-by shooting and illegal possession of firearms.
He made his first court appearance via video on Thursday, where Assistant District Attorney Josh Lilly asked for $250,000 bond.
He said Montoya posed a “significant danger to the community”, noting his history of violent crimes, including juvenile convictions for second-degree robbery and second-degree assault.
Judge Diana Ruff agreed to the bail amount.
The violence began with a mid-afternoon shooting on May 23 outside the apartment complex at 3131 Hood Avenue.
Security video showed a person matching Montoya’s description fired a semi-automatic handgun multiple times at a rival gang member around 3:20 p.m., court documents show.
The documents don’t provide any details about when the shooting started, but security video shows Montoya in his girlfriend’s 2017 Honda Civic.
None of his punches hit the other man, but some hit the apartment complex, nearly hitting the woman inside, according to court documents.
Police learned that his girlfriend dropped him off in the area because they had an argument. A few minutes later, he called her and told her that a member of a rival gang had shot him.
Social media posts showed Montoya wearing the same clothes seen in the video.
Officers said the same car was involved in a June 5 confrontation near the intersection of Hood Avenue and Volland Street. This time the car followed another vehicle with several reported gang members inside.
Someone inside the Civic opened fire and hit a person in the other car in the chest.
Police were told Montoya had control of the car, but there were no details as to whether or not he was involved in the shooting, according to court documents.