Man shoots, kills driver while stopped at Trent Avenue red light, police say; motive unclear

A 43-year-old man is accused of shooting at a couple – killing one of them – stopped at a red light before fleeing in his pickup and surrendering to police at his home Sunday, according to Spokane Valley police and court documents.

Marc G. Rinard was charged with suspicion of second-degree murder and first-degree assault.

Witness statements and evidence suggest a man, identified in court documents as Andrew Buonocore, was driving a gray Nissan four-door sedan late Sunday afternoon on Trent Avenue, police said in a news release. Buonocore’s girlfriend, Macie Parker, was a passenger in the Nissan Sentra, court records show.

Police said Buonocore stopped at a red light at Trent and Argonne Road, and Rinard pulled his black Dodge truck to the passenger side of the car.

Parker told police Rinard started yelling and honking his horn at her and her boyfriend, documents say. She said Rinard rolled down the window of his pickup, pointed a pistol at her and Buonocore and fired, striking Buonocore in his upper torso.

Rinard drove away in his pickup and Buonocore died at the scene.

Parker, who was uninjured, told police she did not know Rinard nor did she know why he shot at her and her boyfriend.

A witness driving on Trent told police the driver of the pickup was driving fast and erratically before the truck and Nissan stopped next to each other at the intersection of Trent and Argonne. She then heard a “pop,” which she said sounded like a gunshot, according to documents.

She told police she heard screaming after the pop sound and saw the truck drive through the red light on Trent. She helped with CPR while she was on the phone with 911 and provided the license plate number of the pickup to dispatch and deputies, documents say.

A Washington State Patrol investigator found a spent 9 mm cartridge casing in the intersection.

Rinard’s wife told police her husband arrived home, 4922 N. Rees Road, some time after 4 p.m. carrying his Glock pistol. She said in documents he was acting erratically and told her to get their dogs away from the windows.

She said Rinard told her the police were coming and that he had just shot someone. She heard Rinard climb into the attic, where she believed he hid his gun, she told police.

Police found a pistol in the attic that was consistent with the gun Rinard’s wife described he was carrying when he got home that afternoon, police wrote in court records.

Rinard declined to speak to detectives.

One detective noted Rinard’s eyes were red and watery and he could smell alcohol coming from him. Rinard told the detective he would go through alcohol withdrawals in jail because he drank alcohol daily.

Police said it appeared Buonocore and Rinard did not know each other, but Rinard’s reported erratic driving may have led to him confronting the victims, and for unknown reasons, shooting at them.

Spokane Valley police and the Washington State Patrol are investigating.

Rinard made his first appearance Monday in Spokane County District Court and remained in jail Tuesday night on a $5 million bond.