Shooting in Spokane Valley early Sunday leaves two injured, one suspect arrested

Spokane deputies arrested a man accused of shooting and injuring two people early Sunday in the parking lot of a restaurant in Spokane Valley.

Around 2 a.m. Sunday, deputies responded to calls of shots fired at the Marandos Bar & Restaurant on East Sprague Avenue, according to a news release from the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.

When they arrived, deputies did not find any victims or suspects but learned someone went to the hospital with a gunshot wound believed at the time to be life-threatening. The victim was in stable condition as of Sunday afternoon, according to the sheriff’s office.

Investigators identified another possible victim, who told them a bullet had grazed his neck. His injuries were considered “minor,” the sheriff’s office said in the release.

At the scene deputies located and arrested a suspect, identified as Rafael D. Castellano, 40.

Castellano was booked into Spokane County Jail and faces two counts of first-degree assault and possession of a stolen firearm, according to the release.

Investigators found a handgun in the grass near where the suspect was located and learned it had been reported stolen in November 2020 by someone in Lewiston, Idaho, thus the stolen firearm charge, according to the release.

Anyone with information regarding this incident whom investigators have not already contacted is asked to call Crime Check at 509-456-2233, reference #10156979.

The incident comes after other recent shootings in Spokane, including a fatal shooting Friday night at a party on the 1900 block of Evergreen Road in Spokane Valley, according to the sheriff’s office. The victim, who was in his late 20s, has not yet been publicly identified.

On Wednesday morning a woman was injured in a northeast Spokane shooting in what the Spokane Police Department said was probably not random.