18-Year-Old Charged In Lee Elementary Graffiti, Gunfire Incident

An 18-year-old East Wenatchee man accused of spraying graffiti and shooting a gun at Lee Elementary School now has formal charges

Prosecutors charged Enrique A. Torres Tuesday with Unlawful Possession of a Firearm as a convicted felon, Possession of an Illegal Firearm in the form of a fully-automatic weapon and Malicious Mischief in the Third Degree.

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East Wenatchee police say Torres was one of two people seen on surveillance video spraying gang graffiti and firing a gun at Lee Elementary.

Officers say the vandalism occurred overnight on the morning of May 14 as the graffiti was discovered later that day on the Lee Elementary School property in East Wenatchee. A number of portable classrooms - as well as a fence abutting the school - were covered with gang-related graffiti. There were also reports of gunfire that night.

Police were able to make out two suspects on school surveillance footage. The suspects were observed spraying graffiti and shooting a firearm.

Officers say video evidence led them to a nearby house in the 1300 block of Clements Circle where the suspects appeared to exit prior to the incident. The residence was linked to Torres.

The following Friday (May 17), police and SWAT officers conducted a search warrant on the residence. Neither suspect was present. But officers found a fully automatic pistol and graffiti and gang paraphernalia.

Then on May 31, members of the Columbia River Drug Taskforce were given a tip that Torres was at an apartment in the 1000 block of N Devon Ave. He was arrested there without incident.

The other suspect is still at large.

Torres in jail with a $75,000 bail and will be under electronic home monitoring if released.

Torres' next court date is next Thursday if he still in custody or the following Monday, June 17, if he's out of custody.