EVERETT — One man apparently shot a pistol out of another man’s hand during a gun battle outside an Everett bar early Christmas Eve.
The violence, which allegedly included a member of the Hells Angels motorcycle club, played out in a snowy alley outside the Soundview Tavern. It may have been triggered over an argument about a young woman whom the men were calling “Southern Peach,” according to a search warrant filed Friday in Everett District Court.
Police found blood, shell casings and the broken magazine of a 9mm Glock pistol in the fresh snow. Officers soon caught up with the gun’s owner. He’d been shot in the middle finger of his gun hand, court papers said.
The man who was wounded told police he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
The night of the shootout he accompanied a recent inductee to the Hells Angels visiting Everett bars. When they went to the Soundview Tavern in the 1100 block of Hewitt Avenue, the Hells Angels member warned that they needed to “watch out” because the tavern is popular with members of the Bandidos, a rival biker group, the search warrant affidavit said.
Just after the 2 a.m. closing time on Dec. 24, officers rushed to the bar’s parking lot after a report of gunfire.
They were told that two white men, at least one described as wearing Hells Angels clothing, had been arguing with a tall, bald black man. The dispute reportedly was over a young woman. At some point, people on both sides of the argument started making gestures as if they were shooting, according to court papers.
That’s exactly what happened once the men stepped into an alley off the tavern, police said.
Everybody involved fled before police arrived, but officers soon spotted a silver sport utility vehicle that matched witness descriptions and pulled it over.
Officers found a passenger in the car who had been shot in the hand. The driver, a man known by police as a Hells Angels gang member with a history of violence, was arrested for investigation of drunken driving and driving with a suspended license.
The Hells Angels member has a reputation as a bully and allegedly was involved in a bar brawl in September over pool winnings. The victim in that case told police he likely would have been killed if the bartender hadn’t stopped the fight. The victim required 22 stitches and seven staples to treat his injuries, the document said.
Police do not believe the Hells Angels member opened fire during the shootout. Instead, his companion apparently was carrying the handgun.
Just before New Year’s Eve, the man who was shot in the hand talked to detectives, the search warrant said.
He allegedly told police he had been hanging out with the Hells Angels for years and was considering an end to the affiliation.
The man told police he believed the other man fired first and that he only raised his gun when people in the parking lot started yelling, “Shoot him.”
He believes the other man’s bullet struck the handgrip of his Glock, injuring him and causing the gun to fire and its magazine to eject.
The other shooter involved in the incident has not been arrested, Everett police Sgt. Robert Goetz said Monday.
“We’re still developing information from leads that we’ve received,” Goetz said.
Detectives obtained the search warrant to comb the SUV the Hells Angels member was driving. They found more than two dozen rounds of ammunition, a handgun and a Hells Angels hat, among other items, court papers show.
Witnesses described the other vehicle involved in the shooting as a 1990s four-door Honda Civic.
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