SEQUIM — A Sequim man was being treated Thursday at a Seattle hospital after he allegedly shot at his neighbor in a manufactured home development near West Hendrickson Road on Wednesday.
James Donald Luoma, 66, may need surgery at Harborview Medical Center, said Deputy Police Chief Mike Hill.
Once Luoma has recovered, he is to be taken to the Clallam County jail for investigation of first-degree attempted murder, Hill said.
Sgt. Dave Campbell of the Sequim Police Department said officers were called to the home in the 700 block of West Heritage Loop at 5:52 p.m. after several 9-1-1 callers reported gunshots.
When they arrived, they found a 49-year-old woman who ran out of her home, screaming for help and covered in blood. She said someone was trying to kill her, officers said.
Hill said from the scene Thursday that Luoma was confronted in front of the woman’s house and that he surrendered without resisting on Wednesday night.
Luoma had a pistol and was bleeding from an apparent gunshot in his left thumb, Hill said.
He was transported to Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles and later airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. An officer escorted him in the ambulance and helicopter ride and remained with him Thursday afternoon, Hill said.
The 49-year-old woman did not sustain serious injuries and is living with family right now, Hill said.
Witnesses told police that Luoma fired several shots at the woman and missed, according to a police report.
One neighbor, who asked to remain anonymous, said she heard two shots and then a series of shots. Another neighbor who asked to be anonymous, said he came outside because of what he said sounded like loud hammering but turned out to be gunshots right before the woman started screaming for help.
How many shots were fired remains under investigation, Hill said.
Police also are investigating to see if the pistol was registered to Luoma, he added.
Police alleged that Luoma went to the victim’s home and a struggle ensued in which the woman took the gun away from Luoma, Hill said.
The woman ran next door and attempted to get help from a neighbor who lives between her and Luoma. More shots were fired inside and near the neighbor’s garage, police said.
The State Patrol’s Crime Scene Response Team was at the home Wednesday and Thursday, and Sequim detectives and Port Angeles police officers canvassed the neighborhood both days.
Neighbors said the woman and Luoma have lived in Hendrickson Heritage Park manufactured home development as neighbors for at least three years.
Neighbors told police that the two had been friendly for some time.
Hill said investigators were unable to take a statement from Luoma as of Thursday afternoon.
No one other than the woman and Luoma appears to have been involved, Hill said.
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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach him at mnash@sequimgazette.com.
