Under The Gun In Separate Shooting Incidents, Neighboring Homes Hit With Gunfire That Easily Could Have Been Fatal

A home in a well-kept Spokane Valley neighborhood was riddled by bullets this week, just four months after the house next-door was hit in a drive-by shooting.

Both houses were occupied when hit by gunfire, but no one was injured.

Residents of the two houses that sit side-by-side in the 4700 block of North Lillian Road and their neighbors said they are shocked and outraged by the shootings.

“This is happening too often,” said Bob Firor, whose home was hit by gunfire in October. “You’re not living out here in the ghetto. This is a pretty decent neighborhood.”

“This is the second time in (four) months,” said neighbor Gen Robertson. “This is getting too close to home.”

Sheriff’s Department investigators have released few details about the most recent shooting, which occurred at about 11:15 p.m. Monday. Deputies said a group of people walked up to the front of the house and opened fire with a small-caliber handgun, shattering the front windows and spraying the walls inside with bullets, then fled in a waiting car.

The man who lives in the house, who asked not to be identified, said he believes he was targeted by gang members, who were retaliating for an incident at a Valley restaurant on New Year’s Eve.

Deputies said the drive-by shooting in October appeared to be random. They said the two shootings do not appear to be related.

But that was of little comfort to the occupants of the two homes or their neighbors. All they saw were the bullet-torn houses.

Following Monday’s shooting, cardboard covered gaping holes in a tall window. Duct tape bandaged three smaller bullet holes in the window next to it.

The destruction is a lesson that no neighborhood is immune to violence, residents said.

“It ain’t the neighborhood; it’s all over town,” Firor said.

Though most said they already keep an eye on the block, neighbors pledged to do a better job.

Firor gathered phone numbers from neighbors this week.

Bob Westrope, who lives across the street from the houses scarred by bullets, said he leaves his living room curtains open and watches for people and cars that don’t belong in the neighborhood.

“I was raised that way,” Westrope said. “You always watch out for the your neighbors.”

The man whose house was shot up in Monday night’s attack said he believes Vietnamese gang members were retaliating after a confrontation at the Lotus Garden restaurant, where he used to worked as a disc jockey.

He said the restaurant manager asked an underage customer to leave the Lotus Garden’s bar during a New Year’s Eve celebration.

The customer, who is said to be a Vietnamese gang member, punched the manager in the face and stomach and threatened a security guard, the homeowner said.

“He said in Vietnamese, ‘I shoot you,”’ said the homeowner, who is also Vietnamese.

Thinking the customer was going to shoot, the homeowner pulled out his gun. No shots were fired and the gang member left. But by showing him up in front of a crowd, the homeowner had shown the ultimate sign of disrespect, he said.

“A lot of people told me just leave them alone,” the homeowner said. “They do what they want. But my nature is to stand up for innocent people.”

Monday, the gang came to his house to win back their respect, he said.

“They walked up and tried to kill my family,” said the homeowner.

Seven bullets hit the house that was shot up Monday. In October, three bullets fired from a car driving along East Wellesley Avenue hit Firor’s house. Residents of both homes know they lucky that no one was struck by a bullet.

Firor’s wife, Laura, frequently sits at a sewing machine against a wall that was pierced by a bullet. That October night she was not in the room, Firor said, “or she might have gotten hit.”

Westrope and other neighbors hope the worst is over. Still, they’re not ready to relax.

“It doesn’t mean I’m taking the bullets out of my guns,” he said.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 3 photos (2 color)