BELLINGHAM, Wash. — Details regarding what led up to Tuesday’s drive-by shooting in Bellingham were provided by Bellingham Police Department (BPD) Spokesperson Lieutenant Claudia Murphy via email to Whatcom News.
According to Murphy, witnesses reported that about 7pm on Tuesday, May 17th, a group of 3 people were walking on E Sunset Drive when a white Ford pickup started following them and got into an altercation with a victim of the shooting. The truck was occupied by 2 men who followed the group back to Studio Lane while threatening to come back with a gun. The men in the truck eventually drove away.
Shortly before 11pm, 1 of the people from the earlier encounter left to go to the store and that is when gunshots were heard outside. A witness said they went outside and heard a victim say he was shot and saw the same white Ford pickup driving away. The victim was located by BPD officers and indicated his hand was “almost shot.”
A BPD officer located the white Ford Ranger pickup soon after in the 2300 block of Mount Baker Highway (SR542) and turned on his patrol vehicle’s emergency lights in an attempt to get it to pull over. Instead, the driver turned the Ford’s lights off, abruptly turned onto E 23rd Avenue and both the driver and passenger got out and fled on foot.
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A Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office K9 team arrived and tracked away from the Ford and located 2 men nearby. They were taken into custody, and both admitted to being in the truck but denied being involved in the shooting. Both were arrested and booked into the Whatcom County Jail.
Carlos Antonio Machado, age 22, was charged with suspicion of the following crimes.
- 1st degree assault
- drive-by shooting
- reckless endangerment
- 2nd degree malicious mischief
- obstructing law enforcement
Dylan Roy Morris, age 22, was charged with suspicion of the following crimes.
- 1st degree assault
- drive-by shooting
- reckless endangerment
- 2nd degree malicious mischief
- obstructing law enforcement
- unlawful possession of a firearm
According to Murphy, Morris is a convicted felon and therefore unable to legally possess or own a firearm.
As of May 19th, both suspects remained in custody pending being able to post bail amounts determined during their preliminary court appearances on May 18th. Machado’s bail was set at $150,000 and Morris’ bail was set at $250,000.