A South Sound man deputies said shot and killed a panhandler outside a Grand Mound McDonald’s will be held without bail following his first court appearance Wednesday afternoon.
“I have concerns that this defendant is a loose cannon that might go off again,” said Thurston County Judge Chris Lanese.
Lanese ordered Bryan Owens, 59, to be held behind bars without bail. He said the Rochester man poses a risk to community safety following Tuesday’s deadly shooting.
"Somebody must've gotten shot,” Rick Klingenhofer, who heard sirens and watched police cars fly by Tuesday evening.
“Thurston County sheriff's don't usually go through here (at) 100 miles an hour. Then a few minutes later, some more. Then five minutes later, some more,” he said.
According to probable cause documents, Owens stopped to question panhandlers in front of the McDonald’s on Old Highway 99 around 5 p.m. The men began shouting at each other and a witness broke it up.
Then, Owens pulled out a handgun, flashed it at one of the men, and another fight broke out. Owens then fired two shots, killing Corey Meyer, a man the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office said was new to the area and possibly passing through town.
People who live nearby were stunned and saddened.
"I'm shocked, really, because I'm not really used to that stuff happening,” Roselie Gus said. "I think that is a real shame that our communities aren't communicating between the homeless people and the business owners and stuff like that."
Court documents show Owens admitted to the shooting.
He doesn't have a prior criminal history.
Owens is scheduled to be back in court in two weeks for his arraignment.
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