A 19-year-old man is accused of shooting another man in Tacoma, leaving him in critical condition.
William Skye Bharati, 19, has been charged with first-degree attempted murder and first-degree assault for the shooting that took place Aug. 22.
A plea of not guilty was entered on Bharati’s behalf during his arraignment Wednesday. Pierce County Superior Court Commissioner Barbara McInvaille set bail at $750,000, court records show.
The victim was shot four times and is on life support, according to court documents.
Charging details
Officers were dispatched at about 12:43 a.m. to the 5600 block of South Thompson Avenue in Tacoma for a shooting with a serious injury. The victim had suffered gunshot wounds to his neck and upper torso. He was taken to St Joseph Medical Center in critical condition, documents show.
The man was shot in a bedroom of a home with several people inside.
Documents show that Bharati drove two people to the home. Those two people were greeted by the victim when they entered the home. Witnesses said that when Bharati entered the bedroom, the victim said, “Who is this, brother?” or “Who the [explicit] is this?” Bharati allegedly shot him with a pistol seconds later.
Bharati ran out of the home toward an alley, documents show. The victim and rest of the people in the home ran near the front door where he collapsed. One of the people in the home called 911 while two men began providing medical aid to the injured man.
Documents show that only one person in the home knew Bharati.
Detectives spoke to the people at the home. One of them said he thought he had been struck by a gunshot and showed detectives a bruise on his left clavicle. Another witness said that the victim was in a “heated” Facetime call with two people, according to charging documents.
Several shell casings were found in the area where the shooting took place.
‘Bail at the highest possible level’
The victim’s family wrote a statement to the court, asking for Bharati’s bail to be set at the highest possible level. The statement said that Bharati poses as an ongoing threat and the family is not just terrified for the victim, but for the safety of the community.
“Setting the highest possible bail sends a strong message that these kinds of crimes will be taken seriously, and it gives our family the peace of mind that the accused will not be walking free while our loved one fights for their life,” the statement said.
Bharati does not have any criminal convictions, according to court records.
