Suspect fired 7 times in E. Bremerton shooting, missing his target but grazing his partner

Luck was the reason cited for why a maintenance worker at an East Bremerton apartment complex was not struck by a bullet in a shooting Tuesday, where a suspect allegedly fired seven rounds at him from a distance of about 10 feet.

The suspect’s alleged partner was also lucky, as he apparently ran in front of the gunfire but was only grazed in the head by one of the bullets.

After emptying the gun bystanders rushed the shooter and held him for police.

The attack on the maintenance workers started for no apparent reason, according to court documents filed Wednesday in Kitsap County Superior Court charging the two men with multiple felonies.

Prosecutors charged Joseph Paul Claussen, 19, of Port Orchard, with attempted second-degree murder, third-degree assault and fourth-degree assault.

Charges of first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm and fourth-degree assault were filed against Pierre Fransque Taylor, Jr., 21, of Port Orchard. Taylor was treated for the grazing wound at St. Michael Medical Center before he was booked into the Kitsap County Jail.

Both pleaded not guilty. Judge Bill Houser set Claussen's bail at $500,000. He set Taylor's bail at $50,000.

Police were first called at about 12:04 p.m. to the area near the Parkwood Terrace Apartments, 2728 Schley Boulevard.

Maintenance workers told officers they were installing a hot water heater in a unit when one worker went outside to retrieve tools. A few minutes later he said he heard a commotion outside and found his coworker on the ground being kicked by two men, identified in court documents as Claussen and Taylor.

The worker told officers the two didn’t say anything to him before the attack and “jumped” him.

The other worker broke up the assault and as they walked away, back to the apartment, they told officers Claussen began shooting at them from a distance of about 10 feet.

A neighbor told police he saw the fight and tried to intervene but Claussen struck him with the gun, causing a wound officers said appeared to require stitches.

One of the workers said Taylor became aware the police were being called and he told Claussen they should flee. The man said at that point Claussen started shooting.

Officers recovered seven 9mm shell casings from the area and a 9mm Ruger handgun with its serial number scratched off. The gun had a magazine with a seven-round capacity.

“It appears the only reason (one of the workers) was not hit by one or more bullets was luck,” an officer wrote in court documents.

In court Wednesday, Deputy Prosecutor Albert Didcock told Judge Houser that Claussen posed an "immense danger," emphasizing the relevance of the investigation that found seven shell casings and a gun that had a seven-round capacity.

"The defendant fired every bullet he had and seemingly would have fired more at the victims in this case if he had been given the opportunity," Didcock said.

Taylor said he did not know how he had been wounded, but an officer wrote “... it appears Taylor unintentionally ran in the general direction that Claussen was shooting and was grazed in the head by a bullet.”

The officer added: "That bullet came within centimeters of likely killing or permanently disabling Taylor."

Bystanders tackled and detained Claussen until officers arrived to arrest him.

Witnesses said while fleeing they saw Taylor carrying a small, black metal box in one hand, but they were unable to find the box, and another man at the scene told officers in the other hand Taylor carried a pistol.

One bullet hit a nearby building, traveled through the living room of a unit and struck the refrigerator. None of the occupants were home at the time.

“Had anyone been in the apartment, they could have been struck by a stray bullet,” an officer wrote in court documents.

In 2017, prosecutors charged Taylor, then 16, as an adult in Kitsap County Superior Court with a count of drive-by shooting. He had been accused of firing a .40-caliber pistol during a confrontation in downtown Bremerton. Prosecutors later dropped the charges in adult court and refiled them in juvenile court, where they were sealed.

No information on the resolution of that case was immediately available in court records, but Didcock asked Judge Houser to unseal those records and indicated Taylor had been prosecuted for the incident.

This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Suspect fired 7 times in shooting, he missed his target but grazed his partner