RIVERTON — A man was fatally shot in a Riverton apartment just after midnight as Tuesday began, and the alleged shooter fled, according to another man who said he was on scene at the time.
The deceased man's sister, Shannon Hill, confirmed in a Tuesday message to Cowboy State Daily that his name was Charlie Washington, which matches accounts given on scene.
"Charlie was the light of every room he walked in," said Hill. "He enjoyed spending time with his friends, loved all his nieces and nephews and will be missed by many."
He died nine days before he would have turned 19, Hill added.
What Looks Like A Bullet Hole
Surveying part of the scene Tuesday morning, Cowboy State Daily observed a puncture in the wall of the landlord’s office at an apartment complex on Forest Drive.
“That’s where the bullet went through from this apartment,” assistant manager Ernie Brown said in an interview, gesturing to the apartment next to the office.
About 15 minutes after midnight as Tuesday began, Brown said he heard a gunshot. He rose from bed, dressed, forgot his phone and went to the apartment that sits directly next to the landlord’s office.
He saw the shooting victim, whom he described as an 18-year-old male, sitting in a recliner with a bullet wound in the top of his head and an exit wound under his jaw, Brown said.
“I’m ex-military, so I know what a headshot looks like,” said Brown.
The chatter on scene at the time was that the shooter was “waving the gun around and it went off and hit (the victim in his head,” Brown said. The angle from the top of the victim’s head downward left Brown uncertain of that account, he added.
Another 18-year-old male was on the ground saying, “I shot him, I shot him,” Brown recalled. “Like, you know — breaking down. Because they were both 18 years old they shouldn’t have even had a gun.”
Brown said the living 18-year-old fled the scene with another male about his age.
“The gun’s gone. He took off with the gun,” said Brown.
But the slug that landed in the office was about a .38-caliber, he added.
Brown said the "girl" who lives in the apartment told him to call police, and he did.
Some of the “younger” tenants in the area have been bringing guests, said Brown.
“We were talking to them yesterday, telling them, ‘You’ve got to quit bringing all this traffic in, because something’s going to go awry,’” Brown said. “And it sure did. It went awry last night.”
Other tenants in the complexes told Cowboy State Daily they saw a large law enforcement presence overnight, but didn’t hear gunshots and didn’t know why police were there.
Investigating
The Riverton Police Department posted a terse statement around midday Tuesday, saying it’s investigating a fatal shooting that happened just after midnight Tuesday.
“Officers responded to a report of a male with a gunshot wound to the head and found an adult male deceased inside the residence,” the statement says. “There is no threat to the community at this time, and it appears to be an isolated incident. The incident is under active investigation.”
RPD Chief Eric Hurtado told Cowboy State Daily in a Tuesday text message that no one is in custody.
"We are still conducting interviews and investigating what lead (sic) up to the discharge of the firearm," Hurtado added.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
