Boy accused of framing neighbor of shooting at him near Sumas

A teenage boy was arrested on suspicion of making up a fake story about how a neighbor shot at him and how he returned fire on Wednesday morning, Dec. 2, according to the Whatcom County Sheriff’s office.

Around 11 a.m. the boy, 17, called police to report he’d been shot at by a man in camouflage who then fled on an ATV outside his home in the 9800 block of Van Buren Road, about 2 ½ miles west of Sumas and a few hundred feet south of the Canadian border.

At first, the boy’s story began, he heard a slamming sound at the basement door, and when he went to investigate he saw a neighbor in the driveway with a long gun.

According to the teen’s story, the man aimed the gun at him, so he hid behind a nearby truck. Then the intruder fired a shot that hit the side of the truck. The boy said he fired back with a shotgun. (The hole left in the truck appeared to be from a shotgun round, deputies noted.)

The boy continued: The neighbor ran over to an ATV and drove off, and the teen said he followed in the truck until he lost sight of the shooter. The boy pointed out a muddy mark on the door of the basement, and shattered glass near the door, that he said the man must have broken, according to the sheriff’s office.

Whatcom County sheriff’s deputies, Sumas police officers, U.S. Border Patrol agents and a border helicopter rushed to the scene to search for the alleged shooter, thinking he might have fled east through fields, into the woods or to the gravel pits to the south. At the time some deputies had been checking on a possibly suicidal person but were called out to Sumas to help in a manhunt for the armed and dangerous man, according to the sheriff’s office.

The neighbor was found at his home and detained within the hour. The boy was driven there, and he identified the neighbor — “with 100 percent certainty” — as the shooter, according to the sheriff’s office. Around 4 p.m. detectives questioned the boy again, and he admitted that he staged the whole thing. The boy admitted he shot the truck and kicked the door, and blamed it on the man, according to the sheriff’s office.

No motive has been made public. Since the boy is a juvenile, his name hasn’t been released.

He was booked into juvenile detention on suspicion of malicious prosecution. Under state law, it is a felony to falsely accuse someone else of a felony.

This story was originally published December 3, 2015 at 5:00 PM with the headline "Boy accused of framing neighbor of shooting at him near Sumas."