Shooting at Zip's injures three

Law enforcement officials still don’t know who or why someone opened fire on people dining at Cheney’s Zip’s restaurant early Saturday morning. Three individuals, all unrelated men in their 20s, were injured and transported to an area hospital, none with life-threatening injuries although one was listed in critical condition at the time of transport.

Cheney Police Department Capt. Rick Beghtol said they received a report of shots being fired at Zip’s, 911 First St., at 3:50 a.m. At least 18 rounds from a 9 mm handgun were aimed from outside at those in the restaurant — three striking individuals, with other bullets impacting the brick facade and a window.

“Some went inside,” Beghtol said, adding the restaurant had been fairly crowded earlier, but had thinned out at the time of the shooting.

“Obviously, there could’ve been the potential for more injuries,” he added.

Beghtol said the shooter, or shooters since there may have been more than one given the number of rounds, were seen getting into a white sedan and heading out of downtown in the direction of Spokane. The sedan had apparently been parked in the alley between First and Second streets, with shell casings found on First and A streets.

“Could’ve been shots fired on First Street near Zips, with the shooter the heading north on A,” Beghtol said.

Initial reports of the shooting drew a possible link between it and a large fight that took place earlier in the evening at a party on Blackhawk Lane near Alki Street. Beghtol questioned this association in an interview Tuesday, saying the 500-person “riot” had taken place around 1 a.m., but other fights had broken out over Eastern Washington University’s Homecoming weekend at locations such as Eagle Point on Betz Road and at Second and H streets.

“There were fights all over the place,” Beghtol said.

None of the individuals injured were EWU students or from Cheney. Beghtol said they were either from Western Washington or Spokane.

Police officials have complained in the past about large party incidents in Cheney that get out of hand, attracting individuals from outside the city due to widespread exposure on social media. Officials have also expressed concern about these incidents happening on Blackhawk Lane and Alki Street, and have met with the development owner about the need for additional security measures.

“We did meet, but there has been little to no action to address the issues,” City Administrator Mark Schuller said in an email.

Beghtol said the Zip’s shooting investigation has been turned over to the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office’s Major Crimes unit. As of press time Tuesday, some witnesses had come forward, but no new developments had turned up.

“Really, they’re just kind of digging right now,” Beghtol said.

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].