Man arrested after bar shooting

COEUR d’ALENE — A man is being held on $100,000 bail after police said he “pistol whipped” and shot another man twice outside a Coeur d'Alene bar Monday night.

The shooting victim, identified by police as Brandon Burnette, was in critical condition early Tuesday evening at Kootenai Health.

Cory A. Hippenstiel, 42, of Coeur d’Alene, is charged with two counts of aggravated battery and one count of aggravated assault, all felonies.

Hippenstiel and Burnette were both drinking at the Corner Bar on Fourth Street when they began arguing about a woman, according to court documents.

Witnesses in the bar told police the men were “acting aggressively” toward one another. A bartender reportedly tried to separate them before they went outside.

Security footage showed the men arguing in the parking lot. Hippenstiel retrieved a handgun from his truck and pointed the weapon at Burnette, according to court documents, then tucked it into his pants.

As the argument continued, police said Burnette pushed Hippenstiel, who drew the gun again and hit Burnette in the head with it.

Hippenstiel is reported to have dropped the gun, then picked it up and fired twice as Burnette approached him.

Bullets struck Burnette in the arm and in the lower abdomen, near the hip. He reportedly limped toward the bar, where people on scene provided first aid. Medical personnel arrived and transported Burnette to Kootenai Health.

Hippenstiel, meanwhile, put the gun inside his truck and waited for police to arrive.

When interviewed, Hippenstiel said he’d encountered Burnette at a different bar, earlier in the night, and that Burnette harassed a woman who was with Hippenstiel.

The same woman later accompanied Hippenstiel to the Corner Bar, where they ran into Burnette again and the argument escalated.

In a press release about the incident, Coeur d'Alene Police did not report having filed charges against Burnette.

Judge Robert Caldwell ordered Tuesday that Hippenstiel be held on $100,000 bail.