A man appeared Tuesday in Clark County Superior Court accused of shooting a driver who was following him in October in central Vancouver.
Misael Moreno Mendoza, 25, no city of residence provided, is scheduled to be arraigned July 9 on two counts of first-degree assault and one count of drive-by shooting. Judge Jennifer Snider set his bail at $100,000, court records show.
Around 9:30 p.m. Oct. 26, Vancouver police responded to Northeast 12th Street and 87th Avenue, in the North Garrison Heights neighborhood, for reports of shots fired. Callers said they heard between seven and 12 shots fired. When officers arrived, they didn’t find anyone injured, but they found five shell casings, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Shortly after, officers were called to a residence in east Vancouver for a shooting victim. The man, identified as Randy Dunning, had arrived home in a vehicle matching the description of one at the shooting scene, the affidavit says.
Dunning suffered a gunshot wound to his right eye and right leg. He told officers he was shot at the intersection of 12th Street and 87th Avenue, the affidavit states. Dunning was taken to Oregon Health and Sciences University Hospital in Portland for surgery.
Photos of Dunning’s pickup show 12 marks that officers believe to be bullet strikes, court records state. Some of the bullet holes were in the windshield and the driver’s-side door.
During an interview with police, Dunning said he was giving a friend a ride the night of the shooting. He said the friend was fighting with his wife and had been kicked out of his house. While they were driving on Mill Plain Boulevard, the friend saw his wife in a car and told Dunning to follow it, according to court records.
Dunning told police he followed the car, which Mendoza was driving, until Mendoza stopped. Dunning’s friend got out of the car to confront Mendoza, and Dunning said the next thing he knew, he was being shot at, court records state.
Mendoza was convicted of a felony in 2017 and prohibited from having a gun, according to court records. Police seized a 9-mm pistol from a backpack Mendoza had when he was arrested in December on a warrant, court records state.
Officers said they found a holster and revolver-style BB pistol in Dunning’s truck, according to the affidavit, but it doesn’t indicate whether he used it on the night of the shooting.
