Late-night gunfire under investigation
BILL BULEY | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 14 years, 3 months AGO
Bill Buley covers the city of Coeur d'Alene for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He has worked here since January 2020, after spending seven years on Kauai as editor-in-chief of The Garden Island newspaper. He enjoys running. | September 13, 2011 9:00 PM
COEUR d'ALENE - Jonathan Tevis wanted to focus on a 10-mile race Sunday.
Instead, his thoughts continually returned to what he discovered just outside his home Sunday morning: A bullet hole in his girlfriend's car.
"I had so much stuff going on in my head the whole run," he said of Sundae Sunday in Spokane. "I didn't want to go, but I told a whole bunch of people I'd drive them there."
The race didn't go well, as the Coeur d'Alene man was shaken at knowing his girlfriend and their three children could have been hurt.
"We realized we could have lost somebody," he said.
Coeur d'Alene police are investigating the incident that happened Saturday night.
Sgt. Christie Wood said it appears someone fired one shot from a gun while either driving or walking past the Third Street house about 11:30 p.m. Saturday. A bullet struck the left back door of the 1990 Cadillac Deville, passed through the seat and hit the dash.
Wood said there are no suspects, but an unknown man came to the front door of the home Friday asking to speak to the victim's boyfriend.
Tevis, 31, said he and his family heard a loud boom late Saturday. He looked out the window, but didn't see anyone. He did notice other neighbors were turning on their lights, too.
"We didn't know what it was," he said.
The next morning, while leaving for the race at 5:45 a.m., he saw the bullet hole.
It was especially frightening, he said, because just 30 minutes or so before the shooting, his girlfriend and their three children had been in the car parked in their driveway.
"Within a half hour that this happened, my daughter's head was sleeping right on this," he said, pointing to the arm rest of the back door. "If they had waited for me 15 minutes to half hour later, somebody could have been hurt."
He said it might have been someone messing around with a gun, or a racially motivated incident.
"We have no clue if it's random. We don't know if it's an act of racism. We don't know. They didn't shoot my car," he said.
Tevis is white while his girlfriend is Hispanic and black. They have lived in the home four years and never had any problems.
"I don't see any reasons," he said. "We don't have any quarrels with anyone. It's the first time anything like this has happened."
Tevis said his girlfriend was frightened.
"She doesn't want to drive her car, she doesn't want to leave the house," he said. "She's scared somebody wants to kill her."
Tevis said the family was so shaken they spent Sunday night away from their home.
"It makes you really insecure about living your life, period," he said.
ARTICLES BY BILL BULEY
Companions Animal Center has adopted out nearly 2,000 dogs, cats in 2025
Companions Animal Center has adopted out nearly 2,000 dogs, cats in 2025
As if to prove it, signs on two kennel doors proclaim “I have been adopted! I’m currently waiting to be picked up by my new parents.” One is a timid black mastiff. But the shelter remains crowded. Monday, it has about 50 large dogs filling kennels, including in the new wing oped this year, and there is still a four-month waiting list with names of about 80 dogs that people are looking to surrender pets.
Post Falls man named director of ministry with global reach
Post Falls man named director of ministry with global reach
Grassi, a longtime hunter and fisherman, started what was originally called “Let’s Go Fishing Ministry, Inc.” with a focus on outdoors, men and God. It was later changed to “Men’s Ministry Catalyst." The emphasis was on helping men understand their role as defined in the Bible.
Nonprofit foundation helps family become homeowners for first time
Nonprofit foundation helps family become homeowners for first time
The Young Family’s Foundation launched about a year ago with a mission "to empower young, hardworking families to achieve the dream of home ownership. Even if a family saved $25,000, they would still be $19,000 short of the down payment needed to buy a $550,000 home, which is the median price in Kootenai County. It’s estimated that only about 20% of area households can afford to buy a home.