Estranged husband shoots wife’s boyfriend during child custody exchange in Kitsap County
Oct 15, 2024, 7:15 AM | Updated: 7:18 am
The damaged car the wife and boyfriend were driving during the violent encounter. (Photo courtesy of Kitsap County Sheriff's Office)
(Photo courtesy of Kitsap County Sheriff's Office)
An estranged husband shot his wife’s new boyfriend in the stomach Saturday evening, according to the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office.
The shooting happened Saturday at approximately 5:30 p.m. near the Kitsap County Fairgrounds when the suspect’s wife, 31, was meeting him to drop off their 8-year-old child after a visit. The woman dropped her boyfriend, 21, off at the fairgrounds first, then dropped her son off with his father. When she returned for her boyfriend, her husband, 40, drove by and shot at the couple.
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According to the sheriff’s office, the husband drove up and started shooting with their son in the car. The wife and boyfriend tried to drive away, but deputies stated he allegedly sped after them and rammed into their car head-on off a U-turn.
When they got out of the car, the two men started yelling at each other before the husband pulled out a silenced .22 caliber handgun and shot the boyfriend in the stomach.
“A Kitsap County Sheriff’s Deputy arrived on the scene to find the victim holding the suspect down in a headlock in the ditch,” the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office wrote in a social media post addressing the situation.
The woman and child were not hurt in the shooting. The boyfriend was sent to Harborview Medical Center and the husband was transported to St. Michael’s Medical Center for a blow to the head before being transferred to the Kitsap County Jail.
“They’re shaken up, but they’re safe. She’s a wonderful mom. She cares for her son. That’s how we know her,” Krystina Cavanagh, the child’s teacher, told KIRO 7. “This is hard for them, and I just ask that we just show compassion for them. They’re people. They’re human beings.”
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According to KIRO 7, the boyfriend is in stable condition and is out of the ICU.
The husband was booked on suspicion of first-degree assault and drive-by shooting. He is being held without bail.
Contributing: KIRO 7
Frank Sumrall is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read his stories here and you can email him here.
