AIRWAY HEIGHTS, Wash. – Following yet another fatal shooting in the Inland Northwest this past week, neighbors in Airway Heights feel unsafe inside their own homes. This comes after the sound of gunfire rang through their neighborhood Sunday night.
“We heard six to eight gunshots. Very loud, very quick, very scary,” Sammantha O’Connor said.
In her five years living in the Sands Mobile Park Home in Airway Heights, O’Connor said she has never experienced anything like she did Sunday night.
“I know it’s not the safest looking place, but normally it’s not gunshots ringing out in the middle of the night,” the mom of two said.
Calls came into Airway Heights Police, Kalispel Tribal Police, and the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) just before nine p.m. Sunday February 4. When officers and deputies arrived, they found two men; one had clearly been shot and was unresponsive. Despite emergency medical aid, he was unfortunately pronounced dead at the scene.
According to SCSO, the other man, 30-year-old Devine Bullard, appeared to have been sprayed with pepper spray. Bullard told authorities that he had been sprayed with bear spray, and said he feared for his life. So, he fired his weapon in quote “self-defense.”
When O’Connor heard the shots, all she could think about was:
“That my kids were in the back room, and I didn’t want them dead. There were lots of kids at the park playing too, and it was scary,” she said. “And then everything was quiet until the cops came, and then it got loud again.”
O’Connor and her family found some level of comfort when officers were on scene. Yet, Sunday night quickly became an unforgettable one.
“It was way less terrifying knowing that they were here, because I didn’t have to worry about getting shot or my kids dying,” O’Connor said. “But it’s our neighborhood and somebody was hurt, something bad happened, and none of us want that.”
Thankfully, no one else in the neighborhood was injured Sunday night. According to SCSO, this fatal shooting stemmed from an isolated argument between the two men involved. Regardless, the sound of gunfire is not a sound O’Connor wants her children ever hearing again.
“I don’t want to even live in this neighborhood anymore, so we’ll be moving as soon as possible,” the mother said.
Monday afternoon, Bullard appeared in court for his first appearance, yet technically, this appearance will not count.
Bullard was arrested overnight but wasn’t booked into the Spokane County Jail until 5:30 Monday morning. In court, the prosecutor said they did not receive the probable cause document, so they asked the judge to move Bullard’s case to Tuesday.
While Bullard’s defense attorney argued that this was self-defense and his client should be released, the judge ultimately decided to keep him behind bars and continue the case until February 6.Bullard is facing five counts of first-degree assault.
