“It looks like they were trying to fix a gun that was jammed,” said Yelm Police chief Todd Stancil. “We don’t suspect any foul play.”
Billy Ray Johnson, 66, was trying to fix a gun when it fired, shooting himself in the hand and leg, Stancil said. A 24-year-old woman also was shot in the leg during the incident.
The two were transported to Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia. She was treated and released, according to police. He is in stable condition, according to a nursing supervisor.
Originally, investigators were told the shooting happened during a confrontation, and that a suspect fled the scene in a maroon car. That story was later determined to be fabricated, police said.
