Drive-by shooting injures Eastern student

By BECKY THOMAS

Staff Reporter

An EWU student was shot in the hand in an early Sunday shooting in downtown Cheney.

Four suspects were arrested within an hour of the shooting, which occurred around 1:15 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 21 outside El Rodeo restaurant in the 500 block of Second Street.

Officers patrolling the downtown area heard the shot and responded to the scene, where friends of victim Sharanbir S. Grewal described the vehicle, a dark colored Jeep, where the shot had originated.

The Jeep was located within 30 minutes of the shooting at Zip's Drive-In and four people were arrested. A 17-year-old male was arrested for drive-by shooting and will also be charged with attempted murder for firing the weapon, Cheney Police Cmdr. Rick Campbell said. A 15-year-old male, a 16-year-old male and Abran L. Gibson, 19, were all in the vehicle and were also arrested for drive-by shooting.

Cheney Police Chief Jeff Sale said Tuesday that prior to the shooting the vehicle stopped in the street in the 500 block of Second and an individual got out and exchanged words with the victim and his friends before firing. Sale said there was no clear motive to the shooting at this time.

EWU Deputy Police Chief Gary Gasseling reported that the suspects were not Eastern students and were thought to be from Spokane. Gasseling said the victim and friends were walking back from downtown bars when the shooting took place.

Grewal was transported to Sacred Heart Hospital, where he underwent surgery for his non-life threatening injuries.

The suspects' vehicle was impounded to the Cheney Police Department, where a search warrant is pending to retrieve a handgun, which is visible inside the vehicle, for tests to see if it was the weapon fired in the incident.

Campbell said officers did a commendable job responding quickly to the shooting, the first in Cheney since June 2006. Officers are investigating and questioning the suspects, who will be charged and tried in Spokane County District Court.

Becky Thomas can be reached at [email protected].