Boy shot in pot theft was hit in back
A 14-year-old* boy was shot in the back when he tried to burglarize a marijuana grow room in Medical Lake on Monday, documents show.
The boy, who was in satisfactory condition after undergoing surgery to remove a .45-caliber bullet, ran from the room in the 600 block of North Grant Street early Monday with another 14-year-old boy after the homeowner, Justin J. Brown, yelled something similar to “what are you doing in my house?” according to a search warrant filed in Spokane County Superior Court.
The boys dropped baseball bats, a screwdriver and a flashlight and ran just before a shot was fired and one of them dropped to the ground with a bullet wound to his lower back. Brown told police he awoke to a burglary alarm and “fired once at figures inside” the grow room after seeing someone moving inside, according to the warrant.
Brown told police chased after the intruders and found the shot boy sitting in the backyard about 15 feet from the room’s door. His wife called police.
The Spokesman-Review does not name juvenile criminal suspects unless they are charged as adults with serious felonies.
Brown told police he grew marijuana in the room but stopped when his medical authorization expired, according to the warrant, which was used to seize evidence from the property, including the handgun and baseball bats.
Investigators with the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office will forward their investigation to the prosecutor’s office for a decision on whether to charge Brown.
The injured boy’s accomplice stole marijuana plants and buds from the same room Dec. 15, according to court documents.
*The Sheriff's Office first said the boy was 14, then said he was 13, but court records show his birthdate is in March of 1997, making him 14.