Police Department

Spokane Police Arrest Drive-By Shooter

Officer John O'Brien

Wednesday, September 6, 2017 at 8:37 a.m.

Spokane Police Arrest Drive-By Shooter

On September 5^th, 2017 just after 2:30 PM, a Spokane City Street Department employee reported a drive-by shooting that he witnessed near Sinto Avenue and Napa Street. The employee was able to provide a vehicle and suspect description.

Officers arrived on scene and interviewed witnesses but did not locate the vehicle. It does not appear any people were injured from the gunfire. Officers were not able to locate any damaged structures either.

About thirty minutes after the initial incident, a citizen at 3rd Avenue and Freya Street reported a subject fired a gun from a vehicle. The citizen provided a picture of the vehicle including a clear picture of the license plate. The two incidents appear to involve the same vehicle.

Several patrol officers were searching for the vehicle. Officer J. Willard located the truck driving in the area of 11^th Avenue and Ray Street. The driver of the vehicle initially tried to flee but was pulled over several blocks away and the driver was taken into custody.

Benjamin D. Rowbotham (22) was arrested for two counts of Drive-by shooting and booked into Spokane County Jail.

A search warrant was served on the truck. Officers recovered two rifles, a loaded .40 caliber semi-automatic handgun and a .38 special revolver. 33 high capacity rifle magazines along with over 4,000 rounds of ammunition were seized

Spokane Police would like to thank the alert citizen who had the thought and ability to safely take pictures of the suspect vehicle. It is with the help of concerned citizens that we collectively make Spokane a better community to live in.

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