Blaine man arrested after downtown Bellingham gunfire leaves two injured

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A 27-year-old Blaine man was one of two men arrested in a downtown Bellingham shooting incident that caused non-life-threatening injuries to two people just after midnight July 17.
Bellingham Police Department booked Brian Lucas Kilete, of Blaine, into Whatcom County Jail on July 18 on suspicion of first-degree firearm assault, drive-by shooting, reckless endangerment and malicious mischief in the second and third degree. Kilete was released July 19, according to jail records.
Bellingham police responded to two groups of people fighting in the alley parking lot behind the Underground Nightclub after midnight on July 17. Gawain Allen Orcutt, of Mount Vernon, allegedly was involved in a fight and knocked to the ground, wrote Claudia Murphy, public information officer for Bellingham Police Department, in an email to The Northern Light.
After the fight, Orcutt retrieved a handgun from a SUV and fired it in the air before shooting a 42-year-old man in the foot at close range, Murphy wrote. Orcutt fired at a car occupied with bystanders before pointing his firearm at another car leaving the alley.
Kilete appeared with a gun and began firing at Orcutt, a 20-year-old man who was standing with Orcutt and the departing vehicle. The 20-year-old was shot in the leg and then hid behind nearby cars with Orcutt. Both the 20-year-old and 42-year-man who sustained injuries were taken to St. Joseph Medical Center. The 42-year-old man was released from the hospital, Murphy wrote.
Kilete fired into the crowd of at least four people, two occupied cars and other parked cars. Four cars were hit by gunfire, some of which were across the parking lot on Railroad Avenue, with estimated damage to be over $3,500.
With the help of a K-9, Bellingham police found Orcutt walking downtown and arrested him for three counts of first-degree firearm assault. Orcutt will have drive-by shooting added to his charge because he retrieved his handgun from his vehicle, Murphy wrote. He was being held on $250,000 bail and released from Whatcom County Jail on July 19, according to jail records.
When law enforcement arrived on scene, a Bellingham officer asked Kilete if he’d seen anything. Kilete responded, “I didn’t see shit. I just heard gunshots,” and told the officer he was in a car during the gunfire, Murphy wrote. Detectives found through video footage that Kilete was responsible for half of the gunfire and was identified as a regular patron of a nearby nightclub. Bellingham police arrested Kilete the next day without incident.
Bellingham crime scene investigators found over a dozen shell casings from two weapons. Police found one handgun and are still looking for the other.

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