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KIRO 7 works to get answers from man shot by homeowner

Gig Harbor, Wash. — Brandon Bird was lost and looking for a family member when he somehow drove up a long gravel driveway to the home of Ross Farr in Gig Harbor in the late afternoon hours of October 24th. Bird said Farr offered to help him find his way, but moments later Bird was headed into Farr's home through the front door as Farr shouted warnings for him to stop. "The next thing I know I was shot," said Bird.

The case remains puzzling two weeks after the shooting. Even Bird seemed to have few answers as he spoke from his bed at St. Joseph's Medical Center in Tacoma, where he remains hospitalized. "I'm very surprised, yeah. I still surprised. I can't believe that I got shot," said Bird.

Bird's story of what happened initially matched that told by Farr's wife, Catherine, the day after the shooting. They both said Bird showed up at the house lost, and that Ross Farr offered to help him find the address he was looking for, even printing out a map page on his computer. But Bird admitted he was more curious about what was going on inside Farr's home, asking Farr about it. Then he said he headed toward the porch and front door. "I walked up the stairs, yeah, into his house and, not causing no harm to nobody," said Bird. "I thought I saw something. And I asked him if it was okay if I go up the stairs, and he was saying, 'Don't go up there.' And I was like, 'Well, let's go in there, let's go in there together,' and the next thing I know, I was shot."

Farr told Pierce County sheriff's detectives he shot Bird after he opened the door and walked inside. Bird admitted opening the door, but claimed he fell into the house after Farr shot him. "I was there, I was lost man, I just wasn't in the right state of mind," said Bird. "Basically I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Pierce County prosecuting attorney Mark Lindquist has charged Bird with burglary and issued a bench warrant for his arrest when he is discharged from the hospital. Bird said he believes Farr should be charged, but a spokesman for Lindquist's office said Thursday no charges will be filed against Farr. Bird and his attorney, Peter Santos, said they may ask the state attorney general's office to review the incident and plan a lawsuit against Ross Farr.