17-year-old boy arrested on suspicion of shooting friend in back near Spokane Falls Community College

A 17-year-old is accused of firing several shots at a car, striking his friend after an altercation last month outside a Catholic Charities apartment complex near Spokane Falls Community College.

James J. Atkins was booked Friday into the Spokane County Juvenile Detention Center on suspicion of three counts of first-degree assault and one count of first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, according to a Spokane Police Department news release.

A woman told police she was driving her friends in her Toyota Camry the night of June 21 and parked at 1920 N. Holy Names Court, where they went inside one of the apartments, according to court documents. Three of the four friends then went back to the Camry, and the fourth person, Atkins, joined shortly after.

The woman said she and her two friends told Atkins to get out of the car, but he refused, documents say. She then got out of the Camry and walked over to Atkins, who was still in the car. and again told him to get out. After refusing again, she sprayed him in the face with pepper spray and he got out, she told police.

She said one of her friends yelled “Gun” multiple times, and she saw Atkins pull out a gun. She ran back to the driver’s seat. Atkins then allegedly started shooting, which was early in the morning of June 22, at her and the two passengers.

She told police she sped off and started driving to a hospital when the Washington State Patrol pulled her over at Division Street and Courtland Avenue.

Video from the complex captured the woman driving toward the exit while Atkins sprinted after the car and fired what police believed were four to five shots, court records show. Police located three 9 mm shell casings in the apartment parking lot.

The man who was shot in the lower back told police he did not know who shot him or why. Police said he was reluctant to talk to officers.

An ambulance took him to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center, where medical staff told police the bullet was lodged in the man’s pelvic region, but it did not hit any organs or break bones.

Police learned of Atkins’ possible location, and multiple specialty units, including SWAT and a Spokane County Sheriff’s Office helicopter, responded Thursday, the release said.

Atkins was inside a vehicle in the area of Northwest Boulevard and Alberta Street. He was arrested without incident.

Documents indicated Atkins has four felony convictions − all since last year.

Atkins made his first appearance Friday in Spokane County Superior Court and is set for an arraignment July 30.

Police said Atkins is a suspect in a June 14 shooting at Holy Names Court, according to documents. It does not appear he has been charged in that incident, in which several shots were fired and Spokane Falls Community College went into a lockdown.

In the June 14 shooting, police believe an argument broke out in the parking lot area, shots were fired and both parties ran away. No one was struck by the gunfire.