Road rage may have been attempted murder

Washington State Patrol is seeking anyone with information on a drive-by shooting that occurred on State Route 16 at Sedgwick Road early Saturday morning.

According to victim reports, a blue Subaru and a trio of Hondas — colored black, white and silver — were traveling westbound on SR-16 just before 4:30 a.m. when an occupant of one of the Hondas fired a single shot at the back of the Subaru. The bullet went through the car’s rear spoiler and the rear window. Once inside the vehicle, the bullet struck a metal post and fell to the floor.

None of the three passengers in the Subaru was injured. All three live in Central Kitsap County — Bremerton and Silverdale.

Police do not yet know whether the occupants of the Hondas are also from Kitsap County and whether those in the Subaru knew their assailant.

State Patrol troopers caught up to one of the three Hondas and interviewed its occupants, who were all in their mid-20s. The Honda’s passengers were allowed to leave, however, and detectives are now searching for the other two cars.

“There’s a lot of speculation behind this,” said State Patrol spokesman Trooper Glen Tyrrell. “We don’t know what transpired before the event.”

The bullet, recovered by troopers at the scene, has been sent out to be studied.

Tyrrell said the bullet was relatively high-caliber, but detectives have little to no information on the gun that fired it. It is unknown how long it will take for a ballistics report to come back on the bullet.

The case is being investigated as a road rage/attempted murder — two potential charges which are rarely combined.

“This was a serious bullet,” Tyrrell said. “Firing that gun changes the whole picture.”

Tyrrell encourages anyone who saw any of the four cars anytime before or during the shooting incident to call Detective Dan Presba at 405-6642. He also asks the occupants of the other two Hondas to come in for questioning as soon as possible. Tyrrell said this case is a very high priority for State Patrol and warned consequences would be more dire if troopers had to track down the cars’ occupants to interview them.

“This is serious — this is very serious,” he said. “Someone’s out there firing weapons at cars and we want to know what’s going on.”

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