A man accused of shooting a gun in the vicinity of a homeless camp earlier this month is facing a felony charge, court documents show.
Prosecutors charged Brian K. Branch, 42, in Island County Superior Court Aug. 8 with unlawful possession of a firearm in the second degree.
The police received reports Aug. 2 of a man discharging a handgun in a wooded area off Goldie Road where there are homeless camps, according to Oak Harbor Police Officer Michael Brown.
A man told the officer that everyone left the camps because Branch was drunk and shooting a gun, according to the police report.
A woman said Branch had been at a camp the night before and fired the gun into the ground when it was about three feet from her head, the report states.
Branch was ineligible to own a gun because of a domestic violence conviction, Brown wrote.
Another officer located Branch on Bayshore Drive Aug. 3 and arrested him.
Island County District Court Judge Bill Hawkins set Branch’s bail at $10,000.