Man who shot two, claims they intruded on his property and threatened him
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LAPWAI (The Lewiston Tribune) — A 30-year-old man has been charged in the killing of a woman and the shooting injury of a man Friday evening in Lapwai. The shooter claims the victims, both unarmed, intruded on his property and threatened him, according to the Nez Perce County Sheriff’s Office.
Christian Forslof was arrested and taken to Nez Perce County Jail on charges of second-degree murder and second-degree attempted murder.
On Friday at about 5:24 p.m., police responded to the 1100 block of Thunder Hill Road where Nez Perce County Sheriff’s deputies found a woman dead from gunshot wounds to her upper body, according to a sheriff’s office news release distributed Saturday morning.
A man was also wounded by gunfire to his upper body, and taken to St. Joseph Regional Medical Center in Lewiston. The names of the victims haven’t been released, as officials are waiting to notify their families.
Forslof’s fiance telephoned deputies reporting that “one male and one female had been at their home and they believed their shed had been broken into,” the news release read. As deputies were en route, the caller said “her fiance had just shot the two subjects.”
Nez Perce Tribal Police arrived on the scene first and arrested Forslof without trouble.
The initial investigation found that Forslof believed the man and woman had entered a shed on his land. Forslof chased them and tried to stop them, at gunpoint, about one-fourth of a mile away from his home. Neither victim had weapons, according to the news release.
Forslof and the woman allegedly exchanged words and “Forslof fired his pistol because the female was pointing her finger at him and walking towards him aggressively,” read the news release.