Search of SUV believed to be used in Bellingham drive-by reportedly reveals stolen gun
A police search of the SUV suspected to be used in last week’s drive-by shooting in Bellingham’s Birchwood neighborhood reportedly not only revealed a gun reported stolen out of Sedro-Woolley, but also the paperwork forbidding the alleged shooter from possessing any firearms.
Bellingham Police amended their Aug. 15 booking of Guillermo Vieyra-Salas, 21, into Whatcom County Jail on suspicion of two counts of drive-by shooting to include include unlawful possession of a firearm and possession of a stolen firearm. Jail records show Vieyra-Salas is still being held in lieu of $400,000 bail.
Police on Thursday, Aug. 19, received a warrant to search a Dodge Durango that was seized Aug. 15, Lt. Claudia Murphy told The Bellingham Herald, after police found Vieryra-Salas leaving the vehicle as they investigated multiple reports of approximately 30 shots fired in the area.
Inside Vieyra-Salas’ Durango, Murphy reported police found:
▪ A Noveske short-barreled rifle with a .300 Blackout round chambered. Police found the gun had been reported stolen this year to the Sedro-Woolley Police Department. Sedro-Woolley Chief Lin Tucker told The Herald the gun had been reported stolen Aug. 9 out of a resident’s garage.
▪ A Smith and Wesson pistol, which police saw sticking out of the Durango’s center console on Aug. 15.
▪ “A multitude” of .300 Blackout ammunition.
▪ A spent .300 Blackout shell casing, which police saw on the Durango’s passenger seat on Aug. 15.
▪ Three 45-round magazines loaded with .300 Blackout ammunition.
▪ Three 30-round magazines loaded with .300 Blackout ammunition.
▪ A felony Judgment and Sentencing Order belonging to Vieyra-Salas and stating that he pleaded guilty to third-degree assault on July 27. The stated that Vieyra-Salas “may not own, use or possesses any firearm ...”
The drive-by shooting
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, according to Murphy. Officers in the area also heard the shots.
No reports of injuries that were a result of the drive-by have been reported, Murphy reported.
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 — which are shot from a rifle and are not common rounds — along West Maplewood Avenue, according to Murphy.
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 and saw the gun in the console and the spent casing on the passenger seat.
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.
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.
Whatcom County Superior Court records show that 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.
