Accused shooter of Coeur d’Alene pastor enters plea

COEUR D’ALENE – An Idaho man and former Marine who is accused of shooting a pastor six times claimed innocence as he entered his plea.

Kyle Odom, 30, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to aggravated battery with a firearm, which if convicted could put him in jail for 30 years, the Coeur D’Alene Press reported.

Odom is accused of shooting pastor Tim Remington in March 2016 in the parking lot of his church. He then fled to Washington, D.C., where he was arrested for throwing items over the White House lawn’s fence, officials said.

Remington was in attendance Tuesday for the court hearing.

“I don’t have any anxiety or fear,” Remington said. “I feel bad for him, I really do. If Kyle comes out and is a changed person, he could be my best friend.”

Physically, Remington said he feels well and has mostly recovered from being shot with six hollow-point rounds from Odom’s .45-caliber handgun. Mostly, he said, he has pain in his right arm and hand.

Odom was returned to Idaho after the incident at the White House and has been in Kootenai County Jail on a half-million dollar bond following mental health treatment.

According to court records, Odom wrote in a manifesto that his life had been ruined by “an intelligent species of amphibian-humanoid from Mars.”

Odom had been originally charged with attempted murder, but that was amended last year.