Police: Vehicle sparked dispute

By Christian Hill | The Olympian • Published June 26, 2008

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OLYMPIA – An Olympia man was arrested Wednesday after he fired his handgun in the wake of a verbal dispute with his neighbor's family member, police said.

Stevan Reed, 59, has been booked on suspicion of felony harassment.

Reed was getting the mail at his house in the 1900 block of Seventh Avenue Southeast when Ryan Kirk pulled into the driveway of the home owned by Kirk's sister, Kerry Rogers, and his brother-in-law, Larry.

Kirk, his wife and his parents, who were visiting from California, had returned from a trip to the store. The Rogerses live across the street from Reed.

Dispute ensues

Kirk said Reed apparently took exception to his parents' Hummer and began shouting obscenities at them. During the ensuring verbal dispute, Kirk said the man told him he was going to "get a gun and put me in the ground." Police, Kirk and Kirk's father, Henry, said the man was intoxicated.

Kirk said he went into the garage to call 9-1-1, and as he was talking to the dispatcher, the man returned to his home.

Two officers arrived as the man had come back outside, and they asked where he had the weapon, Kirk said. Where the gun was pointed when it was fired is unclear.

Reed was pulling the gun from the back of his waistband when one round fired toward the ground, Kirk said. His father, Henry Kirk, said he thought the firing was accidental.

"He didn't have it aimed at anybody," he said.

"They (officers) are not sure if it discharged upon being drawn, or if it discharged at a later point," Olympia police Sgt. Paul Johnson said.

Reed dropped the gun, then lay on the ground, and police arrested him.

Police temporarily closed the street between Fairview and Edison streets. More than 10 police vehicles were dispatched to the scene.

The man's wife, who arrived home after the incident, declined to comment.

Reed was being held Wednesday night at Thurston County Jail.

Christian Hill writes for The Olympian. He can be reached at 360-754-5427 or chill@theolympian.com.