A Battle Ground man is accused of illegally firing a gun inside his residence when some friends of his 18-year-old granddaughter attempted to leave early Sunday.
Billy F. Bicknell, 67, apparently thought the teenagers were an intruder, according to court papers.
Bicknell appeared Monday in Clark County Superior Court on suspicion of first-degree assault. Judge David Gregerson held him in lieu of $25,000 bail and advised him to hire a defense attorney. He’s scheduled to be arraigned May 23 on the charge.
Clark County sheriff’s deputies responded around 1 a.m. Sunday to a report of shots fired at a residence at 17414 N.E. 280th St. in the Heisson area.
Bicknell said he heard noises on the roof of his home and thought it might be an intruder, according to the sheriff’s office.
“He went outside and observed a male that he didn’t recognize enter the upstairs bedroom of his grand-children,” wrote sheriff’s Detective Fred Neiman in a court affidavit.
Bicknell went back inside the house to retrieve his shotgun and walked upstairs.
While on the staircase, he heard someone upstairs say, “We got to get out of here,” according to court papers.
Bicknell opened the bedroom door and saw the same male leaving through an open window, court papers said. He allegedly fired his shotgun through the window to scare the male.
“I’m gonna get you, you little punk,” Bicknell allegedly yelled.
He fired a shotgun multiple times in an attempt to scare away a youth who was climbing out of a window, investigators said.
Bicknell’s granddaughter, who lives with him, said she had invited several teenagers to the home. When they heard Bicknell approach, they fled the house by jumping out of an upper-floor window, according to investigators. Deputies said they found shotgun pellet holes near the window.
No one was injured in the incident.
Bicknell has no criminal history, Deputy Prosecutor Julie Carmena said.
