Police: 3 arrested for allegedly firing high-powered rifles at random targets, once for attempted 'thrill killing'



KENT, Wash. – Two teenage men and a young woman are accused of using high-powered rifles in at least four separate multi-round shootings in King County, including one described by prosecutors as s possible attempted "thrill killing."

Police recovered an AR-15 and AK-47 and said they had linked the suspects -- 18-year-old Isiah Lewis, 17-year-old Rodney Strickland and 23-year-old Melissa Langi -- to separate crime scenes through forensic investigation. They were charged Monday, and prosecutors said Strickland will be tried in adult court.

"While the defendants are all believed to be gang-involved, it appears that none of the victims in the charged incidents are gang involved," prosecutors said in charging documents.

The two teenagers and young woman are charged with going on a wild and dangerous shooting spree that injured two people. Amazingly, no one was killed.

The shootings investigators have linked to the three suspects stretch from Seattle to Kent.

“It sounded far way, but then all of the sudden it was right next to my window,” said Kent neighbor Anna Martinez.

Martinez’s mother said she later found bullet casings in her garden after the shooting in a Kent mobile home park along South 260th Street.

Police said a family there were returning home April 24 when they were followed by strangers all the way to their driveway.

That’s when investigators said two of the three suspects opened fire at random. Prosecutors said the motive for the shooting may have been an attempted "thrill killing."

“Crazy,” said Martinez. “Why would you put other people’s lives in danger?"

About a week later, police said the three opened fire at a home on South Juneau Street in Seattle, putting at least 50 bullets into a home that investigators said the suspects believed was filled with gang members.

Instead the house belongs to a school teacher. Nobody inside was hurt.

On April 30, Seattle officers responded to a home on South Juneau Street where multiple shots were fired at a home. Officers found 51 shell casings all over the street facing the victim's house. No one was hurt.



A third shooting happened May 3, where investigators said an innocent passing driver was targeted on Holly Park Drive South. Nobody got hurt that time.

But hours later, a fourth shooting happened in Seattle. Cops said another car was targeted near MLK Jr. Drive and South Charles Street. Police said an elderly couple delivering newspapers came under a barrage of gunfire. The man was struck twice -- through the left shoulder and upper chest; the other victim received lacerations from broken glass.

Court documents allege two 17-year-old males and a 23-year-old female committed most of the shootings while together.

The family in Kent told Q13 news they are physically OK but still mentally shaken up by the shooting.

Their neighbors also were having a hard time getting over the violence.

“You don’t know if you can sleep at night if you’re going to hear a bullet again,” said Martinez.

The three suspects are facing a variety of charges including assault, illegal weapons charges.

Their arraignment on the charges is set for Monday, June 12.