Man accused of opening fire at car in parking lot of troubled Richland apartment complex
A 19-year-old Kennewick man is accused of shooting at a car in the parking lot of a troubled Richland apartment complex last Saturday.
Aiden S. Ray is accused of opening fire at a Dodge Challenger in the parking lot of the Columbia Park Apartments on the 1600 block of Jadwin Avenue.
Security video allegedly showed Ray and another man approach the car about 5:30 p.m. after it pulled into the parking lot and stopped in the handicap parking area in the center of the complex.
They walked to the passenger window and started to talk with the people inside the car. After about a minute, the Challenger started backing up quickly. As it started pulling away, Ray pulled a gun from his waistband and fired several times at the driver, court documents said. He continued shooting at the car as it pulled away.
The other young man with Ray started to pull out a gun, but stopped. After the shooting, he collected the spent shells.
While he has been identified, the man has not been arrested in connection to the shooting.
Benton County found the Challenger abandoned in an orchard. Detectives found blood and bullet holes inside, but they have not been able to find the person who was shot, court documents said. The car had been reported stolen.
Police identified Ray using the security camera video.
Ray has a lengthy history of trouble with the law starting in 2021 mostly for with illegally possessing guns. Court documents show he still can’t legally own guns.
Richland and Kennewick detectives caught up with Ray on Tuesday. He was booked into the Benton County jail on suspicion of first-degree assault and illegally possessing a gun. He is being held in lieu of $500,000.
During his first appearance in court, Ray said he’d just been released from jail before the shooting.
He had been sentenced to a year in prison in October. He had served most of the sentence waiting for the case to be resolved.
The Columbia Park Apartments has a history in recent years of being a troubled complex. It was the scene of three murders — one in 2019, one in 2022 and one in 2023.
Richland police officials said the shooting is not connected to a Tuesday drive-by shooting at the Uptown Shopping Center on Tuesday.