A 41-year-old Ketchikan man was charged Friday with felony assault for allegedly shooting a flare gun at another man on March 22nd, causing injury.
According to the probable cause statement filed in court by Ketchikan Police Officer Derek McGarrigan, the victim and witnesses told police that Joshua E. Cowley confronted the victim in a parking lot at the intersection of Water Street and the Schoenbar Bypass.
Cowley allegedly told the victim that he owed Cowley money, and that Cowley had bear spray. The victim told police that he ran away, called 911 to report the threat and then went back to check on his car.
The victim told police that he saw Cowley and another man, so he ran away again, and was shot in the back of the head.
Another witness told police that the man accompanying Cowley had the bear spray, which was not used. She told police that she saw Cowley fire a “tiny toy thing” at the victim, hitting him in the back of the head. She added that the item ignited after it hit the victim.
The other man told police he saw Cowley fire a flare gun at the victim. Police say they found pieces of a spent flare cartridge on the ground.
Police report that the victim was taken to PeaceHealth Ketchikan Medical Center for a bleeding wound on the back of his head. The wound required three staples to close.
Cowley was charged with second-degree assault, a Class B felony. The man with the bear spray was not charged in connection with this incident.
