Patty Hastings, Columbian
Social Services, Demographics, Faith
Published: January 14, 2014, 4:00pm
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Vancouver Police investigate the scene where a man fired shot from an assault rifle on the 100 block of West 30th Street on Wednesday.
A man who was reportedly firing a gun into the air in Vancouver’s Carter Park neighborhood was quickly detained by police Wednesday afternoon.
Police responded within two minutes of the 911 call, made at 1:47 p.m., to 135 W. 30th St. The caller reported seeing a neighbor standing in the street shooting an AK-47-style semi-automatic rifle, according to Vancouver police spokeswoman Kim Kapp.
One witness said the neighbor was chasing his dog while pointing the gun toward it. He did not shoot the dog or fire the gun at anyone.
When contacted by police, the man, Devin R. Potts Tolles, 19, was not cooperative, Kapp said. He put his weapon on the ground, but didn’t listen to police commands to get down on the ground.
Although an officer warned him that he would use a Taser on him if he didn’t comply, Potts Tolles continued walking toward the officer. Police deployed the Taser and detained the man, Kapp said.
Medical personnel responded to the scene and used a stretcher to put Potts Tolles into an ambulance.
Kapp said Potts Tolles was taken to a hospital due to injuries from the Taser. No one else was injured.
Vancouver School of Arts and Academics, less than two blocks away, and Hough Elementary School were notified of the police activity and both schools went into a brief lockdown.
Officers converged on the 100 block of West 30th Street while they investigated the incident. They found several rifle shell casings in the area.
After he was discharged from the hospital, Potts Tolles was arrested and booked into the Clark County Jail on suspicion of reckless endangerment, along with unlawfully discharging and displaying a weapon.
Potts Tolles lives up the street at 116 W. 30th St. with his girlfriend, Marlynna Hoke, 20. She said that around noon, he had demanded that she drive him somewhere, but it appeared he had been drinking. She told him no, left to buy a pack of cigarettes in Jantzen Beach and returned to find the police activity near her home.
She said Potts Tolles has been stressed out lately about his new job as a security officer and says he has post-traumatic stress disorder.
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