Two injured in Tuesday shooting

A male suspect is in custody after allegedly shooting and injuring two people in Coeur d’Alene early Tuesday morning.

“There’s no further threat,” said Coeur d’Alene Police Officer Joseph Scholten. “Everyone is accounted for.”

The Coeur d’Alene Police Department was called to an apartment complex in the 200 block of 19th Street around 3:30 a.m. after a shot was reported fired.

According to police, a man and woman returned to the apartment complex after spending time downtown when they were confronted by another male who lived at the residence. Police said an argument ensued and escalated to a point that the male homeowner fired a single round that struck both victims.

“Someone must’ve come here in the middle of the night to try and hurt them," Josiah Guthrie, a resident at the complex, told the Coeur d’Alene Press. "I was asleep, but when I woke up, I heard about everything.” 

Incident scene bystanders said the male victim suffered a bullet wound to his upper chest, just above the heart. The woman was shot in the hand.

Both victims were then taken to Kootenai Health and treated for their injuries. The suspect was detained on scene.

The complex itself is a residential habilitation facility, which employs trained staff to help adults with developmental disabilities or brain injuries live independently. Staff work 12-hour day and night shifts.

Joseph Alvarado is a facility staffer who was working the night shift at the time of the shooting. He said he was in the apartment unit above the unit where the shooting occurred when he heard “a loud bang.”

Alvarado went outside to see the female victim with the bullet wound in her hand, which had stopped bleeding. He then went inside her unit to find the male victim. 

Alvarado said he soon applied pressure to the male victim’s wound.

“Somebody got shot,” he said. “I did what I had to do to stop it.”

Alvarado could not recollect how long he treated the male victim before emergency services arrived. He said he was simply trying to make sure the victim stayed awake.

“He was bleeding really badly,” Alvarado said of the male victim. “Once I was cleared by (emergency services) to take my hands off, I did.” 

Alvarado, with his hands covered in blood, was then questioned by authorities about the incident. Afterward, he smoked a cigar before fully ending his shift. 

“I needed some stress relief,” he said.

Police investigators were at the apartment complex all Tuesday morning. Detectives in plastic shoe covers gathered forensics and evidence inside the apartment, which was closed off to the public with yellow police tape.

Police have yet to reveal the suspect’s name or any potential charges, and they are withholding the victims’ names pending further investigation.

“I’m just hoping he’s OK,” Alvarado said of the male victim.

    Yellow police tape surrounds a Coeur d'Alene apartment complex where a shooting took place Tuesday morning.