At about 1:20 am on Wednesday, September 16th, officers from the Yakima Police Department (YPD) responded to a report of shots fired in the 1600 block of South 12th Avenue. An officer in that area saw a motorcycle leaving the scene. When the officer attempted to stop the motorcyclist, he sped away.
A short pursuit followed before the officer lost sight of the fleeing motorcycle. The officer quickly relocated the motorcycle in the 1600 block of Queen Avenue, but the rider was gone.
An 11-year-old girl, who was asleep in her bedroom in a home in the 1600 block of South 12th Avenue, suffered bullet wounds to her thigh and calf. She was transported by ambulance to Virginia Mason Memorial Hospital. Also in the home at the time of the shooting were the girl’s mother, an adult male, and a 1-year-old child. No one other than the 11-year-old girl was injured during the shooting incident.
The current medical condition of the 11-year-old girl is not known to the YPD.
Officers were able to contact the motorcycle’s owner, a 22-year-old Yakima man. Due to discrepancies in the owner’s story, he was detained by YPD officers and Gang Unit detectives were called in to continue the investigation. At the scene of the reported shooting, 15 casings were recovered. Security video footage linked the motorcycle owner to the shooting.
The owner of the motorcycle is a self-admitted gang member. He will be charged with four counts of assault 1st degree, drive-by shooting, and eluding. The name of the motorcycle owner is not being released until he is formally charged.
The apparent target of the shooting was the 11-year-old girl’s father, who a known gang member. He was not at home when the shooting incident occured.
Additional information about this incident will be provided if necessary when it becomes available.