Police search for motive in Moscow shootings

A motive for Saturday’s deadly shooting spree in Moscow isn’t clear yet, but police did recover five guns in the car of the man who is expected to be charged with three counts of murder. John Lee, 29, was arrested after a high-speed chase in Washington ended when Lee lost control on state Highway 195 just south of Steptoe. Police believe he shot four people in three locations Saturday, killing his mother, his landlord and a manager at Arby’s, a restaurant his parents frequented. A Seattle man was critically injured. “There’s still nothing to identify a specific motive as to why Mr. Lee took these actions,” Moscow Police Chief David Duke said. In response to the shootings, the congregations of the Moscow Interfaith Association will hold a community prayer vigil tonight at 7 at the First United Methodist Church in Moscow. University of Idaho President Chuck Staben expressed shock and sadness and offered sympathy to family and friends of the victims. “We are deeply saddened by the violence,” Staben said in a statement. Investigators searched Lee’s car and apartment late Saturday night, Duke said. They found two semi-automatic pistols, a revolver, a shotgun and a rifle in the vehicle, along with a laptop computer, he said. Authorities were seeking a warrant to search the computer. Ballistics tests were expected to help determine which weapons might have been used in the shootings. The first death was that of Lee’s adoptive mother, Terri Grzebielski, 61, at her home. Grzebielski was a physician’s assistant who worked at Moscow Family Medicine’s University of Idaho Student Health clinic. “Words cannot express the severe grief we are experiencing at the loss of our friend and colleague,” Moscow Family Medicine CEO Jeff Geier said in a Facebook post. “We will heal and become a stronger community,” Geier wrote. As a student health center provider Grzebielski “was highly valued and respected,” Staben said. Police said Lee then headed to Northwestern Mutual life insurance, where he shot his landlord, David Trail, 76, who was a local businessman and the brother of a former state representative, as well as Michael Chin, 39, of Seattle. Trail, a senior financial representative, had been with Northwestern Mutual since 1964, when he graduated from the University of Idaho with a bachelor of science in business and agronomy. “His dedication to the community and to the university will be sorely missed,” Staben said. Duke said Chin had no link to Lee but was discussing business with Trail when the gunman arrived. Duke said Chin was shot in the arm and leg. Duke said Chin was flown to a Spokane hospital in critical condition. There were “some issues” regarding Lee’s apartment, Duke said, but no eviction proceedings that police were aware of. Upon leaving the insurance office, the shooter drove to an Arby’s restaurant and asked for the manager. When she appeared, he pulled out a gun and opened fire. The manager, Belinda Niebuhr, 47, died at the Moscow hospital. Duke told The Associated Press that Lee’s parents ate at the restaurant and knew the manager well, but it’s not clear whether Lee did as well. He did not work at the restaurant as far as police knew, and workers who witnessed the attack didn’t recognize him, Duke said. The restaurant remained closed Sunday. The sign out front stated, “Belinda forever remembered.” Lewiston-based Happy Day Restaurants, which owns the Moscow Arby’s, posted on its Facebook page, “There are no correct words to express the grief that we’re struggling with. Our thoughts, prayers, and deepest sympathies are with” Niebuhr and the other victims. Kelsey Stemrich said she was working at a cafe near Arby’s when she and a customer heard three gunshots and then saw people running from the restaurant. She says they took down the license-plate number of a car seen pulling away from the Arby’s and called it into police. Police in Washington spotted the suspect’s black Honda, and a chase involving multiple agencies ensued. Pullman Police Chief Gary Jenkins said the pursuit lasted nearly 25 miles, and Lee’s vehicle at times topped 100 mph before crashing off Highway 195 north of Colfax and rolling to a stop. Few details were available on Lee’s background. Duke said he had been adopted at birth, and he recently returned to Moscow after living for a few years in the Midwest. Lee was taken to a Colfax hospital for treatment of minor injuries before he was booked into the Whitman County Jail on a charge of felony eluding. Duke said Idaho authorities had issued an arrest warrant for Lee for investigation of three counts of first-degree murder and one of attempted murder, and he said they could take Lee into custody from Washington state by Monday unless he fights extradition.