18-year-old man shot in face in apparent gang shooting in north Spokane
May 13-An 18-year-old man is accused of firing into a Mercedes, striking another 18-year-old man in the face in an apparent gang shooting last week near the North Division "Y" in north Spokane.
Tabarius D. Johnson Jr. was arrested two days after the shooting and faces a first-degree assault charge.
Officers responded shortly after 9 p.m. May 6 to a report of shots fired and people running in the area near Rosauers on Division Street, according to court documents. Police initially found nothing in the area, but minutes later learned a teen was dropped off at a local hospital with a gunshot wound to the face.
A detective found two 9mm shell casings and blood in the alley.
Rosauers surveillance footage captured the shooting, court records show. Police say it shows Johnson in a white sweatshirt and blue shorts in an alley along the store with a woman, believed to be Johnson's girlfriend, riding a Lime scooter.
A black Mercedes pulls up, and Johnson walks up to the driver's side door, the footage shows. There appears to be a brief conversation before Johnson pulls out a handgun and fires into the Mercedes. Johnson and the woman then run north. The driver and passenger switch seats in the Mercedes before the car speeds away north.
A man in the Mercedes dropped the gunshot victim off at a hospital and left. The victim was eventually flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle . His status was unclear Wednesday.
Screenshots from Rosauers footage also showed Johnson and the woman inside the store prior to the shooting, police wrote in court documents.
Police recently wrote an investigative report about the gunshot victim and a 2014 black Mercedes registered to the victim's mother.
The mother reported the shooting may have had to do with a firearm theft from two years ago. The victim's girlfriend seemed to agree, telling police she believed the shooting was in retaliation for the victim testifying against other gang members over firearms that were stolen from the victim's mother in 2024.
The girlfriend knew Johnson was part of the gang that her boyfriend testified against, according to court documents.
The victim's family told police the possible suspect's street name was "Happy," whose first name might be "Tabarius."
Police wrote in documents the victim and suspect are affiliated with the Swavii Crip criminal street gang. Johnson's probation officer told police she last contacted Johnson a week before the shooting and his last known address was with his girlfriend on Westview Avenue, about one block north of where it happened.
Johnson made his first appearance Monday in Spokane County Superior Court and is set for an arraignment Thursday. Johnson remained Wednesday in the Spokane County Jail on a $500,000 bond.
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