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By ERIN MATHEWS, Salina Journal
Three men believed to be responsible for the shooting of a Colorado family's pickup truck as it traveled through Saline County early Saturday, as well as shootings at a rural Minneapolis house, are in custody in the Ottawa County Jail.
Brian Enright, 18, of LeRoy, and Shane Patrick, 19, and Robert Feebeck, 20, both of Tescott, made first court appearances Tuesday morning and are being held on $20,000 bond, Ottawa County Sheriff Keith Coleman said.
The men face felony charges of criminal damage to property and criminal discharge of a weapon, and Coleman said he also expects them to be charged with attempted second-degree murder for firing two shots into an occupied house south of Minneapolis both Friday and Saturday nights.
Coleman said two people were inside Don Koster's house when it was shot twice, once with an SKS assault rifle and once with a 9 mm handgun.
Awakened and crying
David Weaver, 29, of Hillside, Colo., and his family were traveling east on Interstate Highway 70 about 4:45 a.m. Saturday near Reese Road on their way to a family gathering in Ohio. Weaver said his three daughters -- Erika, 5, Amy, 3, and Kara, 1 -- and his wife, Suzanna, were asleep when suddenly the back window of their pickup truck shattered and they were showered with glass.
"All of a sudden, there was a loud boom and the back window blew out," Weaver said Tuesday when contacted by telephone. "That was a complete shock."
The children, who were frightened awake, all immediately began to cry, he said.
Weaver said he pulled over to figure out what happened, but when he saw the bullet hole, he got right back in the truck and drove away from the area.
"I didn't know if it was a stray bullet or if somebody was shooting at us," he said. "I'm glad to know what happened and that there've been arrests. It would have made it hard to come back through that area -- especially in the dark."
The bullet entered the top of the cab and traveled along the roof before exiting out the back, and that caused the rear window to shatter.
Glass, even in a diaper
Weaver said he pulled off the road a few miles away from the shooting and called the sheriff's office. Deputies gave him a piece of cardboard to temporarily cover the window, and after cleaning glass out of everywhere -- even from inside a diaper -- the family continued their trip to Ohio.
Weaver said he was pleased that suspects had been found because he said he was unable to provide deputies with any information about where the bullet could have come from. He said he knew only that there were no cars in front of or behind him as he headed east. He said he couldn't recall anything about westbound traffic.
"I'll never forget that," he said. "The good Lord was looking out for us."
Kochanowski said he was pleased the suspects were found and said the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office did an outstanding job. He said the men are expected to face charges in Saline County in connection with the shooting of Weaver's truck.
Shootings random
Sheriff Coleman said he believes the men targeted the rural Minneapolis house, but the other shootings were random acts. He said alcohol is thought to be a contributing factor in the shootings.
Mailboxes and street signs along Kansas Highway 18 in Tescott and in Saline County were also used as targets as the men shot from their vehicle, Coleman said.
Coleman said the three men were arrested without incident at a house in Tescott early Monday by deputies from the sheriff's office and members of the Kansas Highway Patrol's Special Response Team. He said additional arrests are expected.
Officers recovered firearms they think were used to shoot at the house and truck, he said.
Coleman commended Undersheriff Russ Thornton and deputies Scott Allen, Ryan Boster and Nate Jackson for their work.
n Reporter Erin Mathews can be reached at 822-1415 or by e-mail at emathews@salina.com.
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