Bail set for Seattle man accused of shooting protester after driving into crowd
A 31-year-old Seattle man accused of driving through a crowd and shooting a protester in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood Sunday night was arrested and held on investigation of first-degree assault.
The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office requested that Nikolas Fernandez be held on $350,000 bail. The judge set the bail at $200,000 but lowered it to $150,000 after Fernandez’s family spoke about “his community ties and inability to pay,” according to the prosecutor's office.
The incident occurred around 8:20 p.m. Sunday near 11th Ave. and E. Pine Street where large crowds have been gathering for more than a week to protest the death of George Floyd, a black man killed in Minneapolis police custody.
According to the statement of probable cause, Fernandez said he was driving in the area of the protests and thought he could get through the crowd. He told police that protesters started kicking his car, yelling at him, and that people were trying to grab him through the open driver’s side window.
Fernandez said the man he shot, identified as 27-year-old Daniel Gregory, grabbed him and the vehicle’s steering wheel through the open window, according to the statement of probable cause. Fernandez told police he was “fearing for his life” when he fired a single shot at Gregory. Fernandez thought he shot Gregory in the chest, according to the statement.
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