Police: Vengeful ex-boyfriend fired gunshots at wrong house

MOUNT VERNON, Wash. — Mount Vernon detectives arrested a 23-year-old Kent man believed to have mistakenly fired gunshots at a home he thought was his ex-girlfriend’s.

Police said a man who lives in the 5300 block of Wellspring Road came home at 5:21 a.m. to find gunshots in his garage door.

No one was home when the shooting occurred, and the victim said he didn’t know anyone who would want to harm him.

Mount Vernon police began checking the area, recovering two shotgun shells in the driveway where the shooting occurred.

They began canvassing the neighborhood and found a neighbor who heard shots about 2:30 a.m. and saw a white Volvo station wagon leaving the area.

A woman who contacted officers said that her ex-boyfriend drove a vehicle matching the description.  The woman said she and the man had separated and she recently filed a police report because he was sending her harassing text messages and threatening to change passwords on her social media accounts.

Investigators obtained search warrants for the man’s home and arrested him at his workplace in Pacific at 5:30 p.m.

Detectives said information they collected determined the man was in the area about 15 minutes prior to the shooting.  A shotgun and shells were recovered from the man’s home and will be compared to the casings recovered from the scene.

The 23-year-old man was booked into King County Jail on drive-by shooting charges.

Investigators said they believe the man in custody is responsible for the shooting and that he was targeting his ex-girlfriend, but shot the wrong house.

KIRO