Bullet from Pierce County shooting nearly hits mother and 5-month-old in nearby apartment

PIERCE COUNTY, Wash. — A bullet from a shooting in Pierce County went through the bedroom window of a nearby apartment and nearly hit a mother and five-month-old child inside, according to charging papers.

Prosecutors charged a 24-year-old woman with two counts of first-degree assault Monday in connection to the shooting. She pleaded not guilty at arraignment and bail was set at $25,000.

Charging papers give this account of what happened:

The shooting happened Friday at an apartment complex on Mountain Highway.

The suspect allegedly told sheriff’s deputies she saw someone trying to prowl her car, and that she fired as the car prowler drove away. She said the person hadn’t gotten out of their vehicle but had driven slowly past her car. She thought a weapon was pointed at her, she said, and ran after the alleged prowler and fired about four shots.

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“The defendant could not explain why she ran about 100 feet chasing a vehicle and shooting at it,” or why she thought the person was going to prowl her car, the declaration for determination of probable cause said.

Investigators found that the person she shot at was her boyfriend’s ex, who he said had thrown a brick through a window of his vehicle.

The stray bullet that went through the bedroom window of the nearby apartment hit a couple feet from where the mother had been sleeping with her 5-month-old son.

“The bullet hit the blinds, the bedroom door, went through a wall and into a kitchen drawer,” the probable cause statement said.

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