Pasco man shot in the head with 9mm gun walks away without realizing he was wounded

KENNEWICK – Bail is set at $500,000 for a 31-year-old man accused of shooting a person in the head outside a Pasco home Dec. 9.

The victim survived and walked back into his house, according to court documents filed in Franklin County.

Jose A. Martinez, of Burbank, Washington, is charged with first-degree assault and illegally possessing a gun. He’s being held in the Franklin County jail.

The victim was recently released from jail and was sleeping on his sister’s couch in Pasco when he planned to meet a man he knew as “Matador,” court documents said.

He told investigators that Matador was bringing him an electrical cord for a tablet computer that needed recharging. He’d known Matador for years, but hadn’t seen him for a while.

He said he met Matador – later identified as Martinez – and three other people outside his sister’s home when they pulled up in a white ’90s Chevy Suburban with a blue logo on the passenger’s side.

He told investigators that it looked like Martinez was going to hand him something, but instead pulled out a gun, court documents said.

The victim’s sister told police she heard the gunshot and saw her brother walk inside with blood on the right side of his face, court documents said. He told her that he didn’t know he’d been shot.

She took him to Lourdes Medical Center in Pasco, where medical officials called police, court documents said.

Documents are unclear how serious his wound was, but he was able to talk to investigators.

Pasco officers alerted other law enforcement agencies to watch for the Suburban, and it was spotted by Kennewick officers near East Third Avenue and South Elm Street.

Martinez and a woman were in the SUV, and officers found a gun in the center console and blood on Martinez’s shoulder. He also had two 9 mm cartridges in his coveralls.

The woman told Kennewick officers that they probably were stopped because of “what happened in Pasco,” court documents said. Also, Martinez and the woman complained to police about their ears ringing.

Martinez declined to speak to police.