SPOKANE, Wash. — A man who told Spokane police he was shot by a Hispanic man following a road rage incident actually shot himself in the leg at home, investigators said.
Spokane police responded to the reported shooting on Highway 195 at 16th Avenue at about 4:30 p.m. on Monday.
The caller, 65-year-old John Lizee, told police he was involved in a road rage incident with a black Acura Integra Sedan, and a Hispanic man had confronted him and shot him in the leg.
Medics treated Lizee, who had suffered a gunshot wound to his left leg, police said. Officers at the scene noticed that there was a lack of blood in around Lizee's vehicle and no bullet holes in the vehicle.
Police said medics did not find blood on Lizee's left shoe or on his hand.
Police did not receive calls from witnesses to report the shooting, despite it happening during heavy traffic and in broad daylight.
Lizee's neighbors told officers later that they heard what sounded like a gunshot coming from Lizee's home before seeing him leave about 15 minutes later, police said.
When officers searched Lizee's home, they found what appeared to be blood droplets on the master bedspread, a partially empty box of 9mm ammunition and three empty holsters. A brown recliner in the home had a bullet hole and a 9mm bullet was found sitting on top of a baseboard heater.
Police said the bullet found in the home appeared to match the rounds in the box of ammunition.
Lizee's criminal history makes it illegal for him to have a gun or ammunition, police said. He was arrested for first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, making a false or misleading statement to a public servant, and false reporting.
