A Wyoming man accused of opening fire inside the Hazel Dell Wal-Mart in October was arraigned Wednesday after a mental health evaluation found he is competent to stand trial.
Shaun Michael Sprague, 35, of Sheridan, Wyo., entered not-guilty pleas in Clark County Superior Court to aiming or discharging a firearm, reckless endangerment and third-degree malicious mischief. In addition to the shooting, Sprague is suspected in an unrelated residential fire in Hazel Dell. He entered a not-guilty plea to first-degree arson.
His trial is scheduled to begin Feb. 13.
Sprague was ordered Oct. 12 to undergo a competency evaluation, which found he is able to aid in his defense. Competency in the court system only addresses whether a defendant is able to assist in his defense; it doesn’t address all of a defendant’s potential mental health issues.
Sprague told authorities after the shooting that he took “speed” — a term for amphetamines — a couple days prior and planned to kill himself but changed his mind, according to a probable cause affidavit. He also told jail officials that he suffers from mental health problems, court records show.
Clark County sheriff’s deputies arrested Sprague shortly before 7 a.m. Oct. 4 inside the Wal-Mart at 9000 N.E. Highway 99 after a store manager called 911 to report an active shooter. No one was injured during the shooting.
Sprague had a revolver in his possession and allegedly fired shots near the Subway restaurant inside the store near the front entrance, according to the affidavit.
The store had been open for about an hour. Employees and shoppers either evacuated or sheltered in place, according to the sheriff’s office.
Jake Bodle, who was opening the Subway restaurant inside the store, told The Columbian on the day of the shooting that he spoke with Sprague earlier that morning. He was outside smoking, he said, when Sprague approached him and asked for a cigarette. Bodle declined.
Sprague later came inside the store and told Bodle he wanted a sandwich. Bodle said the restaurant wasn’t open yet but that he would make him a sandwich once he was done setting up for the day, according to court documents.
Bodle was in and out of the restaurant’s back room, he told detectives, when he walked back to the front counter and saw Sprague point a gun toward merchandise in the store, according to court records. Sprague fired six shots and then placed the revolver on a nearby table, the affidavit said.
Bodle ran to the back room and saw Sprague fire two more shots in the same direction before placing the gun on the table again, court records state.
During an interview, Sprague told authorities that he went into the Wal-Mart because he was cold and wet. He said he planned to kill himself but changed his mind, according to court documents.
On Oct. 3, Sprague allegedly set a kitchen fire at the home he was staying at in the 3000 block of Northeast 75th Street. He dipped a pair of fuzzy dice in gasoline, lit them on fire and placed them inside a kitchen cabinet, according to a separate affidavit of probable cause.
A roommate told officers he went to bed about 11 p.m. Oct. 2 and woke to the sound of the smoke detector and the smell of smoke. He found the fire downstairs and extinguished it, the affidavit states.
The roommate said he smelled rotten eggs and discovered the gas line had been disconnected to the water heater in the garage.
Sprague was the only other person at the house when he went to bed, and there were no signs of forced entry, court records said.
