Teenage boy shot in head last month in Comstock Park, court documents say

A 16-year-old boy was shot in the head last month at Comstock Park, and no one came forward to report the incident, court records say.

When the Spokane Police Department responded around 1:20 a.m. Oct. 26 to a shooting at the southwest side of the South Hill park, they found discarded alcohol, ski masks and a silver Jeep that had barreled into a neighboring fence. The driver, the 16-year-old teenage boy, was found unconscious and covered in blood spatter with a gunshot wound to his head.

Another boy, 15, sustained a gunshot wound to his hip. Neither boy was named in court documents.

Police have not publicly updated the conditions of the teens who were shot.

Spokane police Det. Aaron Kirby wrote in court records dated Nov. 5 that “he does not know why they were shot” and “no one has come forward,” although the circumstances led him to believe two groups of teens were engaged in some type of illegal activity.

Initial information led police to believe the two teens were shot inside the crashed Jeep, according to court records. They also believe an unknown third boy, or man, had run from the car and hopped the fences to escape.

Inside the Jeep, police discovered a .45 caliber pistol with the serial number scratched away, another pistol on the floor of the passenger side and a full mask that was believed to have covered the teen’s face. It was bloody, which indicated to police that the injured teenager was wearing it when he was shot, court records say. The Jeep was also littered with bullet holes in a linear pattern, so police concluded the person shooting was chasing the car as it was attempting to drive away.

Another ski mask was found behind the home where the silver Jeep crashed, affirming law enforcement’s belief that a third person had run from the scene. They also found discarded clothing and alcohol containers in the area, a place that is a “known location” for underage drinking and party activity at night, court records say.

Following the shooting, the 15-year-old boy with the injured hip was being loaded into a red Jeep by some friends when police responded and stopped them. The friends told police they didn’t know what happened and had only shown up to help the boy, court records say. In the documents, police note that the owner of the red Jeep is known to police because she has been “contacted before” at a shooting this summer and during a homicide investigation earlier in the year.

There is no indication to believe anyone was arrested yet in connection with the shooting.