A 19-year-old gang member allegedly opened fire on a rival gang member in Kennewick and missed, but he managed to hit something else — an apartment building.
One of the bullets punched through the wall, just feet from a woman inside the apartment.
Slightly more than a week later, the car Shady Montoya was riding in was reportedly tied to another drive-by at the corner of Volland Street and Hood Avenue. A man was shot and wounded in that incident, according to court documents.
Montoya is being held at the Benton County jail on suspicion of drive-by shooting and illegal gun possession.
He made his first appearance in court by video on Thursday, where Deputy Prosecutor Josh Lilly asked for $250,000 bail.
He said Montoya posed a “significant danger to the community,” noting his history of violent crimes, including juvenile convictions for second-degree robbery and second-degree assault.
Judge Diana Ruff agreed to the bail amount.
The violence started with a mid-afternoon shooting on May 23 outside the apartment complex at 3131 Hood Avenue.
Security video showed someone matching Montoya’s description fire several times with a semi-automatic handgun at a rival gang member about 3:20 p.m., according to court documents.
The documents don’t provide any details about how the shooting started but said security video showed Montoya in his girlfriend’s 2017 Honda Civic.
None of his shots hit the other man, but some hit the apartment complex, nearly striking the woman inside, said the court documents.
Police were told that his girlfriend dropped him off in the area because they had been arguing. A few minutes later he called her and said a rival gang member had shot at him.
Social media posts showed Montoya wearing the same clothes as what was seen in the video.
Officers said the same car was involved in a confrontation on June 5 near the intersection of Hood Avenue and Volland Street. That time the car followed another vehicle with several reported gang members inside.
Someone inside the Civic opened fire and hit one person in the other car in the chest.
Police were told that Montoya had control of the car, but there were no details about whether or not he was involved in the shooting, according to court documents.