At about 7:30 pm Tuesday night, members of the Yakima Police Department (YPD) Gang Enforcement Unit went to a home in the 300 block of South 7th Street to apprehend a juvenile who was wanted on robbery and assault charges.
While YPD officers were taking the juvenile into custody near the front of the house, a man who police later identified as the juvenile’s grandfather went out the back door of the home. Not knowing that YPD officers were positioned behind the home in order to establish a perimeter, 65-year-old Moises Contreras fired two shots in the general direction of the officers. No one was stuck by either of the shots.
After having gone back into the home for a moment, Contreras surrendered to police in front of the house. He told officers he thought there was someone prowling the alley behind his house and that is why he fired his gun.
Contreras, who was released at the scene, will be charged with unlawful discharge of a firearm within city limits.