A teenager suspected of driving the getaway vehicle in a Monday homicide in the parking lot of a Hazel Dell shopping center appeared Wednesday morning in Clark County Superior Court, and two more boys were arrested later in connection with the shooting.
Terrance J. Busby, 17, faces an allegation of first-degree murder in connection with the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Gage Allan Kiser. Busby was originally arrested on suspicion of second-degree murder and booked into the Clark County Juvenile Detention Facility.
The Clark County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday night that law enforcement found and arrested two other boys on suspicion of first-degree murder in connection with the shooting. They were booked into the juvenile jail. The sheriff’s office did not identify them.
Busby appeared in Superior Court because of his age and the nature of the allegation. Judge Gregory Gonzales did not allow photos of the teen to be taken in court. Gonzales set Busby’s bail at $500,000.
Deputies and medics were dispatched about 2:30 p.m. Monday to Pacific 63 Center, 6204 N.E. Highway 99, for multiple reports of a shooting. The shopping center is home to a number of businesses.
Multiple 911 callers told dispatchers that a man had been shot in the stomach, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Witnesses pulled Kiser from his still-running Jeep and attempted CPR before police and medics arrived. He was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the sheriff’s office.
The probable cause affidavit says a woman, who was sitting in her vehicle, watched a black car reverse into a parking spot in the lot, with its front pointing toward the exit to Northeast 63rd Street. A man exited the black car from the back seat and left the door open. He walked up to the driver’s door of Kiser’s Jeep holding a small gun in his hand that looked like a revolver.
The witness said she “heard gunshots followed by screaming. … The black car then took off rapidly out of the parking lot,” the affidavit states.
Botched drug robbery
Deputies interviewed three people who were inside Kiser’s vehicle when the shooting happened.
Skylar Kiser told deputies he accompanied his brother to deliver marijuana to someone Gage Kiser had contacted on social media. The younger brother said Gage Kiser used Snapchat to talk with buyers. He said the buyer involved in the shooting looked at the marijuana and tried to run off with it, according to the affidavit.
“Gage tried to stop him. The male turned and fired a gun at Gage before fleeing,” the affidavit states.
The two other people who’d been sitting in the Jeep told police similar stories. They described the weapon as a black revolver, and Detective Fred Neiman Jr., who wrote the probable cause affidavit, noted there were no shell casings found at the scene. One of the witnesses identified the getaway driver as “Terrance.”
Detectives say they believe Gage Kiser and the suspects knew each other.
Kiser was enrolled at Skyview High School but was previously a student at Fort Vancouver High School. Busby is enrolled at Hudson’s Bay High School but previously attended Skyview, according to Vancouver Public Schools spokeswoman Pat Nuzzo.
Late Monday, law enforcement officers tracked down Busby and identified him as the suspected driver. A Clark County deputy started the manhunt by looking for people named Terrance in Kiser’s age range. After fingering Busby as a suspect, the deputy determined his family owns two black Mercedes-Benz vehicles.
Officers surveilled the family’s residence and observed Busby pull up in a black Mercedes and quickly leave with a cousin to go to an apartment near Vancouver Mall, according to the affidavit. They obtained a search warrant and arrested Busby.
Family members at the apartment told detectives Busby has a history of drug robberies, but he’s never been caught. Senior Deputy Prosecutor Kasey Vu cited this detail at Busby’s first appearance in asking for a high bail amount.
Another family member said Busby posted a picture of a black revolver on Snapchat two days earlier, according to the affidavit.
Deputies obtained a search warrant for the Mercedes believed to be involved in the shooting and found that its license plates had been switched. The car’s actual plates were found in the trunk, according to the affidavit.
Busby’s arraignment hearing is set for Dec. 21
Columbian staff writer Andy Matarrese contributed to this report.
