Police found nothing criminal in the case of a woman who was struck by an errant bullet while on her property in Brush Prairie two weeks ago, and they have suspended the investigation into the neighboring Clark Rifles gun range.
The Clark County Sheriff’s Office, however, is inspecting the commercial firing range this week for the first time in about 19 years.
Representatives of the gun range, which remains closed until the inspection is complete, were not available for comment Monday.
The sheriff’s office doesn’t know where the projectile that struck 65-year-old Linda Sperling came from, and where it went after it left her scalp. Given that her 5-acre property east of Hockinson abuts the range, investigators say it’s still possible that the projectile came from Clark Rifles, though they haven’t found signs of recklessness, negligence or criminal intent.
On the afternoon of Jan. 26, Sperling was outside collecting branches from a recent windstorm when she was reportedly struck by a bullet. She was sent to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center, where doctors told her that a bullet had entered and exited her scalp. She was treated and released, but Sperling said she continues to suffer from a concussion, memory and vision problems and a constant headache.
Investigators interviewed the Sperlings, along with everyone who was at the range when the injury occurred. In all, 16 people associated with Clark Rifles were interviewed and three bullet shell casings were recovered from the range and processed as evidence. Clark Rifles fully cooperated with the investigation and closed at the sheriff’s request.
The firing range is permitted through Clark County Community Development and was last inspected by the sheriff’s office in 1996, according to county records.
A review of past practices revealed that the previous sheriff’s administration made a decision to not inspect firing ranges, according to Undersheriff Mike Cooke. He said he doesn’t know what led to that decision or when exactly it was made.
“It would be purely guesswork on my part,” Cooke said.
County code requires that the sheriff’s office inspect permitted firing ranges at least every five years. Sheriff Chuck Atkins told the agency to get up to code and begin inspections as soon as possible.
“We should have been doing them before, but we weren’t. Obviously, I can’t change the past, but I can ensure that we follow the county code going forward,” Atkins said.
Besides adhering to code, Cooke said they want to develop a uniform process for inspecting ranges that makes sense and ensures that they’re operating safely.
“We’re basically starting over,” Cooke said. “We need to determine how many firing ranges we have that would be subject to inspection.”
Although every deputy uses shooting ranges for training purposes, it doesn’t necessarily make them experts, Cooke said. “The question becomes who within the sheriff’s office is the best qualified to do the inspections?”
