MILL CREEK, Wash. — A Mill Creek family is warning people after they say they were shot at while walking on a nature path.
Tristin Gillis was hit with a projectile he said left a .22-caliber-sized hole in his leg that narrowly missed their toddler.
The trail in Mill Creek borders wetlands near the 4000 block 133rd Street SE. The Gillis family recently moved to an apartment near the trail.
On Saturday, Gillis said he was walking with his son Wesley and their dog when he started to hear a noise he described as a "whooshing" sound.
"Then I heard another shot go whooshing past the side of my head,” said Gillis. “It sounded like it couldn't have been more than two or three inches away from my ear.”
Gillis said he heard several shots, which he believes were aimed at him and his family.
"I had heard a loud pop, which I come to find out later was the hole we discovered in my son's cart, in his stroller," said Gillis.
That shot nearly hit Wesley. Gillis later discovered he was shot in the leg by a projectile.
"I was noticing that my leg was throbbing," explained Gillis. "I noticed I had a, there's not another way to put it, a .22-sized hole in my leg, and it was just bleeding blood."
The Mill Creek Police Department said Gillis declined offers from responding officers to call medical aid and said he would seek treatment on his own.
Gillis said he was told in the emergency room he was shot with a bullet. He planned to have the projectile removed. Police requested the projectile “be retained as evidence.”
During the investigation, the Mill Creek Police Department said responding officers found “projectiles on the ground that appeared consistent with air gun pellet projectiles and were not believed to be consistent with a projectile fired from a firearm.”
Police said there were previous reports of someone shooting an air rifle in the backyard of a nearby home. The department believes it is a pellet gun. Officers contacted the owner of the home and said they were cooperating with the investigation.
The department said it's currently unclear if it's someone practicing with a weapon or something more intentional. Detectives are working to identify the type of projectile and where it may have been fired.
“Another focus of the investigation will be establishing information and evidence regarding whether the incident was intentional or negligent in nature,” the Mill Creek Police Department said in a press release. “Establishing intent is a key element of establishing probable cause for any criminal charges.”
The Gillis family said no matter the reason, what happened is upsetting.
"I just don't understand why someone in their right mind would BB gun, airsoft gun, I don't care. Why are you shooting it at groups of people?" said Destiny Miller, Wesley's mother.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact Mill Creek Police Department Detective Sergeant Bart Foutch at 425-921- 5755.