Cole Marshall, 30, faces two counts of first-degree assault after investigators say he shot and killed a toddler in the Olympic National Forest.
MASON COUNTY, WA – A man has been charged Shooting a young child and seriously injuring him An Olympic National Forest man pleaded not guilty Monday.
Cole Marshall, 30, charged He was charged on May 8 with two counts of first-degree assault.
Marshall’s arrest is related to a May 3 shooting that injured a 2-year-old boy.
At approximately 3:20 a.m., Mason County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a shooting on U.S. Forest Service Route 23. The incident occurred near a dispersed campground several miles off the road. The 911 caller was a 34-year-old man who said he had been “beaten” and that his 2-year-old child had been shot in the head.
The man and his 32-year-old wife drove the child to Mason General Hospital, and the child was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. The boy was in critical condition when he was transferred.
The man told officers his family and two friends drove to where a friend’s ashes were scattered. An “older” man and woman confronted the group. The 34-year-old man told deputies they started arguing and the older man pulled out a revolver.
The two groups began to get into a physical altercation before leaving in their respective vehicles.
As the 34-year-old man tried to pass another Chevrolet Tahoe in the Jeep, he said he heard at least six gunshots.
The 34-year-old man’s wife told officers she saw another man and woman from an earlier fight approach the car and shoot them.
While the family was at the hospital, officers detained another man, later identified as Marshall, in the area where the shooting occurred. Marshall told delegates “These people were coming for my mother.” Marshall said the car “accelerated” and started driving toward his mother, and he “stepped in to protect her and fired.”
Marshall’s mother said she saw the Jeep parked next to Lake Tahoe and decided to confront the driver. The mother said the Jeep hit or hit her and then headed toward her truck, where her granddaughters were sleeping.
The mother told officers that Marshall fired his handgun into the air.
Mason County detectives found 17 shell casings at the scene. They said the bullets appeared to have been fired from the passenger side into the Jeep’s windshield and rear hatch as Marshall drove away.
On May 4, Marshall appeared before a Mason County judge, who released him without bail on a personal recognizance bond.
His trial is scheduled for August 10.
