Another arrest made at violence-plagued Richland apartment complex after more gunshots

A man was arrested after a drive-by shooting in the area of the Columbia Park Apartments on the 1700 block of Jadwin Avenue in Richland, Wash.

Multiple calls to 911 reported a shooting Friday night, the Richland Police Department posted to social media at 9:45 p.m.

Police found no one shot, but did spot a car and driver matching the description given by witnesses. When police approached the driver, Patrick Anthony Lyver, 30, he ran into an apartment, according to police reports.

The Tri-City Regional SWAT team was called and surrounded the apartment, attempting to get Lyver to come outside. Around midnight a flash bang, a device that explodes with a bright light and loud bang, was set off, according to people who heard it.

Lyver was arrested about 3 a.m., according to witnesses, and booked into the Benton County jail about two hours later on suspicion of drive-by shooting, discharging a gun, unlawful possession of a firearm and obstruction of police.

Lyver has a prior conviction for felony third-degree assault with substantial pain and a domestic violence protection order violation in 2021 and was sentenced to six months in jail, according to court records.

The Columbia Park Apartment complex has been plagued with violence in recent years, including a shooting that killed Edree D’Love Thompson, 20, of Kennewick, on May 19.

It was the third homicide at the apartment complex in recent years.

Violence at apartment complex

On New Year’s Eve, Micahel Cateoreno, 21, was killed in a gang-related shooting while walking through the complex, according to court records.

Felipe Manjares, 19, of Sunnyside, allegedly opened fire after learning Castoreno was associated with a rival gang.

Richland police announced Manjares’ arrest just hours before Thompson was shot multiple times and died.

Police have not said whether the drive-by shooting this weekend, the shooting that killed Thompson or the New Year’s Eve shooting have any connection.

Also in 2019 at the complex, Rice, 30, was shot to death in the parking lot by Kyle Johnson-Clark, a 29-year-old Aryan Brotherhood member.

Johnson-Clark was found guilty of murder in January 2022 and sentenced to prison for shooting Rice in the back reportedly over his relationship with Johnson-Clark’s girlfriend.

The complex also was the scene of a February 2021 shooting that left one person seriously hurt.

A woman who identified herself as the current manager of the apartment complex posted on social media Sunday that she had evicted four tenants this year and three other evictions are in process. The eviction process takes a minimum of five months, she said.

The complex changed management companies in July and has been doing background and credit checks before renting, she said.