Patriot Bremerton
FRIDAY, MARCH 9, 2012 | Vol. 14, No. 7 www.bremertonpatriot.com | 50¢
Leap Day Twenty-four hours in the happiest place on earth Page 10
Felony charges leveled in Bremerton school shooting Mother and boyfriend face responsibility in shooting of 3rd-grade girl by gun in classmate’s backpack By GREG SKINNER gskinner@soundpublishing.com
Greg Skinner/staff photo
Panhandlers seek help from drivers at the southbound exist of State Highway 3 at Kitsap Way in Bremerton Feb. 28, 2012. Recent complaints led to an ad-hoc public health summit to begin work on the growing homelessness in Kitsap County.
Public health takes lead in homelessness issues Thousands report being homeless as state and federal funds dry up By Greg Skinner gskinner@soundpublishing.com
Recent complaints don’t represent the entirety of the growing homelessness problem in Kitsap County, but they did push the public health department into action. Last week, Kitsap Public Health director Scott Lindquist put out a call to a host of social service agencies, and others affected by homelessness. He said no one else had taken he lead so he wanted to spur the community to begin work solving some aspects of the problem. The meeting was called after a property owner on Wheaton Way, just past
the city line, sent a letter to the Board of County Commissioners and the health district complaining of homeless people living in the woods near Safeway. Complaints have also come from at least one business near the intersection of Kitsap Way and Highway 3. Though the county has been tracking the increase in homelessness since 2009, when they discovered some interesting food stamp data, Lindquist called the meeting after personally investigating the complaint made by the property owner. The time is now for the entire community to deal with its homeless problem. Homelessness is a public health issue without an agency to directly deal with it and with the continued decline of federal and state dollars for social services, it is the community that will have to fund the fix, Lindquist said. “And, not just liberal do gooders,” he said. Salvation Army Maj. Jim Baker was
among the estimated 50 local social service providers to attend the adhoc summit held at the Norm Dicks Government Center in BRemerton. No real answers came from the meeting, he said. Considering the varied demographics of homelessness and its causes, Baker said no central solution would likely rise from any future meetings going forward. Lindquist said the problem solving process has just begun and more work will come. Regarding the “chronically homeless,” the men who are the center of the complaints, there is little Baker said his organization can do so he spends time and resources in select areas that he can help. Most agree that no one is going to force a person who prefers to live in the woods for whatever reason. During the Jan. 18 snowstorm that dropped half a See homeless, A8
Police Monday confirmed that the gun that discharged in a Bremerton classroom sending a large caliber bullet through a 3rd-grader’s arm and into her spine belonged to the boyfriend of the mother of the child that brought the gun to school. Both have been charged in connection to the shooting. Bremerton Police say that Douglas A. Bauer’s lack of security with a loaded gun and his allowing easy access to the gun, established his guilt in the “unlawful” possession of a gun by a 9-year-old boy and ultimately led to the shooting of 8-year-old Amina Kocer-Bowman, said Bremerton Police Lt. Peter Fisher in a satement release just before the close of business Monday. Along with Bauer, the mother of the boy who brought the handgun to school has been charged for illegally possessing two guns, which police found at her home on the day of the shooting. Police say they found a loaded Mossberg 500 12 gauge shotgun leaning against a night stand and a loaded Sig Sauer P226 9mm semiautomatic handgun sitting next to a computer. As a felon, Jamie Lee Passmore did not have a right to own or possess a gun. Neither has been arrested. Fisher said Bauer and Passmore were out of state at a pre-planned See HOMELESS, A8event
and would be arrested upon their return. At the moment, fisher said he was not concerned about the risk of flight. According to police the 9-year-old boy that brought a H&K .45 cal. semi-automatic handgun with a round in the chamber to Armin Jarh Elementary School on Feb. 22, had visited his mom’s house when he took the gun from her boyfriend. The Allyn area home had two loaded and unsecured guns out when police visited within hours of the girl being shot. Kocer-Bowman remains in serious condition in a Seattle hospital following five surgeries. Police say that the gun, sitting in the pack with a round in the chamber, fired on its own. The accidental discharge happened about one minute before school let out for Wednesday early release. Police claim that her own actions of leaving loaded weapons around the house and allowing her son easy access to guns contributed directly to the shooting of KocerBowman. Kitsap County prosecutors recently said they would seek therapy and probation for the child that brought the gun to school. He was charged with third-degree unlawful possession of a gun. The pistol that shot the girl sells for more than See shooting, A8