Desert Aire shooting leaves two minors injured

DESERT AIRE — A shooting shortly after 8 p.m. at Desert Aire Park ended with two juveniles being shot, one with a minor injury to the leg and another being taken by helicopter to an area trauma center for life-threatening injuries, Grant County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Kyle Foreman said in a Tuesday morning interview.  

“There’s no suspect in custody. (Detectives) are investigating,” Foreman said. “Everyone involved is a juvenile, and so the detectives were consulting with the prosecutor on next steps.”  

Foreman said the incident is thought to be gang related. The two victims drove to a residence in the 200 block of Thunderbird Way where they were evaluated by EMS. The teen with the leg injury refused treatment, but the one with the critical injuries was flown to a regional trauma center.  

As of press time, there was no update on the critically injured teen’s condition. 

Foreman said all GCSO staff and other responding agencies are safe and uninjured. The Royal City and Mattawa police departments also responded and incident with additional aid from Grant County Fire District 8, Foreman said. Communication was coordinated by MACC 911.  

Wahluke School District Superintendent Andy Harlow said school would move forward as scheduled. While it is believed that some of the juveniles involved are students in the district’s alternative school program, the district will be taking precautions to ensure student and staff safety.  

Tuesday was an open house day for the district with students following a conference schedule and an open house for parents and loved ones in the evening.  Harlow said an announcement was sent to teachers and staff to ensure them that safety will be a priority. 

“Our first and priority concern is the safety of students and staff. We’ve been talking with investigators and have decided that we will continue with our first day of school activities. Our plans for the Open House and the community prayer will also continue as planned. Those plans will include extra police presence, local first responders, and more crossing guards who are scheduled to be on campus for the first week of the school year. There will also be extra school district staff on campus before and after school this week,” the statement read. 

Harlow said a student resource officer and the district’s safety security coordinator will be on campuses to ensure safety as well. 

Anyone with information on the case is asked to call GCSO at 509-762-1160.