By Sean Garmire
The Eureka Times-Standard
ARCATA, Calif. — A shotgun blast in Arcata Sunday night sent a man to the hospital and another to jail, while police continued their search for a third suspect Monday.
The incident began with a phone call dialed by a man shot at close range with a sawed-off shotgun. Police responded and found the 22-year-old man on the floor of a residence at the 2500 block of Cropley Way with a gunshot wound in his right front pelvis, the Arcata Police Department reported.
The victim was transported to Mad River Community Hospital and is listed in critical but stable condition.
Witnesses at the scene told responding officers that after the shot a man ran from the house carrying two weapons, while another man sped away in a vehicle, APD reported.
Officers began their search of the area and found 32-year-old Curtis McCovey hiding in the home of an acquaintance a few blocks from the shooting.
An assault rifle and a sawed-off shotgun were discovered dumped on a neighbor’s lawn, APD reported.
McCovey, who was on felony probation at the time of his arrest, was taken into police custody and booked into the Humboldt County jail on charges of carrying a loaded firearm, felon in possession of a firearm, possession of a sawed-off shotgun, transportation of an assault weapon, and possession of an assault weapon.
The charge of assault with a firearm was absent from the list. APD Capt. Tom Chapman said those charges may be brought against McCovey as the investigation progresses.
The second suspect was identified as Willie Lamebear, 27, an active parolee from Hoopa. By Monday night investigators had not arrested him, but APD Capt. Tom Chapman said he is “very confident he will be in custody shortly.”
Chapman said the name of the man who was shot will be withheld until investigators are able to determine a motive.
“We know these three guys were in a house, one got shot, Chapman said. “We’re working on establishing a motive. We don’t know if it was an accidental shooting or intentional.”
On Sunday afternoon McCovey sat in court for a probation hearing that stemmed from a separate drug-related incident that took place in 2003.
The Humboldt County District Attorney’s Office reported it has, on a number of occasions, filed petitions to revoke McCovey’s probation since 2003.
Copyright 2008 The Eureka Times-Standard