Bellingham man suspected of firing approximately 30 rounds in Birchwood drive-by shooting
A Bellingham man, who only days earlier pleaded guilty to shooting himself in the leg in a 2018 incident, is suspected of firing approximately 30 rounds from a rifle in an apparent drive-by shooting early Sunday in the Birchwood neighborhood.
No injures were reported from Sunday’s incident.
Bellingham Police booked Guillermo Vieyra-Salas, 21, into Whatcom County Jail Aug. 15 on suspicion of drive-by shooting, and jail records show he is being held in lieu of $400,000 bail.
What-Comm 911 dispatch received approximately 70 calls reporting shots fired shortly after 2:15 a.m. Sunday in the area of 2700 block of West Maplewood Avenue, Lt. Claudia Murphy told The Bellingham Herald in an email. Officers in the area also heard the shots.
Witnesses reported hearing about three shots, followed by another 20 or more shots, Murphy reported, and one witness said that a white SUV had been involved.
Officers checked the area and found 27 .300 Blackout shell casings along West Maplewood Avenue, according to Murphy.
“.300 Blackout rounds are shot from a rifle and are not common rounds,” Murphy wrote.
As officers were checking the area, they noticed a newer, white Dodge Durango at the Maplewood Junction Apartments, Murphy reported, and Vieyra-Salas was seen getting out of the front passenger side of the vehicle.
Vieyra-Salas told officers that he went to retrieve cigarettes from the Durango, but said he had not been driving, according to Murphy, but officers found the car’s engine was still warm.
Officers contacted a resident in the area who had a surveillance camera, Murphy reported, and a review of the video allowed officers to hear three shots first from the area of Northwest Avenue, followed by approximately 27 more shots. The video also reportedly showed that a white Dodge Durango passed east on West Maplewood shortly after the shots stopped.
Looking through the windows of the Durango, officers saw a pistol sticking out of the center console and .300 Blackout rounds in the console, Murphy reported. They also reportedly saw a spent .300 Blackout casing on the passenger seat and two more spent casings between the passenger seat and door.
As officers were in the process of seizing the Durango, Vieyra-Salas came out with the Durango’s keys in his hands, according to Murphy, adding that officers found 25 grams of cocaine in Vieyra-Salas’ possession when he was arrested.
Officers are awaiting a search warrant for the seized Durango, Murphy reported, but no injuries were reported from the shooting.
Whatcom County Superior Court records show that on Aug. 3 Vieyra-Salas entered a guilty plea to third-degree assault, after he shot himself in the leg July 16, 2018, with a gun he said he found earlier that day at a convenience store. Vieyra-Salas was set to begin a one-month jail term for the incident on Aug. 31, court records show.
This story was originally published August 17, 2021 at 11:12 AM.
