Mattawa man charged in Sunday shooting

SCHWANA, Wash. -- Sheriff’s deputies in Grant County have charged a 19-year-old Mattawa man with attempted assault in the first degree in connection with a shooting early Sunday that narrowly missed a 6-month-old baby and sent one man to the hospital where he was in stable condition Tuesday.

Deputies say the incident started about 10 a.m. Saturday morning when Luis Alberto Mejia-Nunez attempted to use his vehicle as a weapon and struck 21-year-old Javier Rodriguez in the leg as he and his siblings left the Outpost convenience store in Schawana, five miles north of Mattawa.

Rodriguez protected his sister, 15, and his brother, 3, by letting the vehicle strike him in the leg, spinning him to the ground, deputies said.

According to a news release, at 3:10 the next morning, the girl called police to say her brother, Rodriguez, had been shot while sleeping, suffering gunshot wounds to both legs. The girl also said the house had been sprayed with bullets by a passing vehicle.

Police said the barrage missed by only 12 inches a 6-month old male baby sleeping on a living room couch.

Police say the incident is gang related and that Rodriguez isn’t cooperating with the investigation.

Mejia is in the Grant County jail, and bail has been set at $75,000.