Detectives arrest 43-year-old man in fatal Millwood shooting over weekend

A 43-year-old man accused of shooting and killing 53-year-old William McCreight on Saturday in a Millwood Safeway parking lot had met for a possible drug deal, according to the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.

Spokane County Sheriff’s Office detectives, with help from the U.S. Marshals Service Pacific Northwest Violent Offender Task Force and several other law enforcement agencies, found Johnathan M. Bryman at a Hayden residence Monday afternoon and took him into custody without incident, according to a sheriff’s office news release.

Bryman was listed Tuesday in the Spokane County Jail with a $1 million bond for suspicion of second-degree murder.

Initial information indicated Bryman and McCreight met in the Safeway parking lot on the northwest corner of Trent Avenue and Argonne Road for a possible drug deal, the sheriff’s office said. At some point, Bryman pulled out a handgun and shot McCreight before fleeing the parking lot in his vehicle.

McCreight died at the scene. The Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office said McCreight died from multiple gunshot wounds.

According to court documents, McCreight and Bryman appeared to have left the Maverik gas station on Pines Road, a couple of blocks north of Interstate 90, in separate cars about 15 minutes before the shooting, according to court documents.

A woman who was with McCreight told the sheriff’s office McCreight, who she said she did not know, offered her a ride to get food. She got into his white 2010 Ford Fusion and McCreight drove her to Maverik.

She said a “sleek black car,” later believed to be Bryman’s black 2013 Chevy Camaro, pulled into the Maverik parking lot and McCreight talked to someone inside the car, documents say. Maverik surveillance footage showed the Camaro pulling into the gas station parking lot at about 6 a.m.

The woman said they then left to Safeway.

There, McCreight was texting on his phone for a minute before getting out of the car, the woman told police. She said McCreight told her he had to talk to his friend and told her to stay in the car.

She believed the friend was the same one McCreight had been messaging. She was sitting in McCreight’s Ford texting on her phone when she heard a man shout, followed by the sound of four gunshots, she told police. She then watched what she believed to be the same black car drive past McCreight’s car.

Safeway surveillance showed the Camaro parked behind the Fusion in the Safeway parking lot at the time of the shooting.

Bryman got out of the Camaro and walked into the store at about 6:10 a.m. McCreight was seen moving around the Camaro, and the Camaro’s taillights began flashing as though the car alarm had been activated, a detective wrote in documents.

Bryman purchased aluminum foil at a Safeway self-checkout register and exited the store at about 6:13 a.m. McCreight met Bryman in the parking lot, walked with him toward the Camaro and stood near the back of the car where they appeared to have a conversation, the camera footage shows.

At about 6:14 a.m., McCreight dropped to the ground and Bryman got into the Camaro and left the parking lot.

Multiple people reported shots were fired in the parking lot and there wan unresponsive man on the ground, court records say.

A deputy reported finding McCreight on the ground in the parking lot with a silver BB gun near McCreight’s body. She provided aid to McCreight, but medics arrived and declared McCreight dead at 6:40 a.m., documents say.

Safeway surveillance of Bryman, who is white with a shaved head, red mustache and a dark-colored goatee, matched his Facebook photo appearance, documents say.

Detectives said in documents Bryman and McCreight appeared to be traveling together or somehow associated with each other based on surveillance footage.

Bryman had two firearms on him when he was arrested. He is a convicted felon out of Idaho for two counts of aggravated assault and one count of domestic battery, according to documents.

Detectives continue to investigate and additional charges or arrests are possible, the release said.