Same car used in 2 drive-by shootings, police say

Police believe the same vehicle was used in a pair of drive-by shootings Tuesday night in which two men were shot at random in Colorado Springs.

The shootings on West Kiowa Street and South Wahsatch Avenue happened within a 15-minute span.

Willis Carico, 41, was shot in the elbow about 8:47 p.m. while jogging in the 800 block of West Kiowa, police said. Then at 9 p.m., Charles Josephson, 29, was shot in the hip about three miles away while walking near his home in the 1600 block of South Wahsatch, police said.

Both victims were treated at Memorial Hospital and later released, police said.

"Everything appears at this time to be random," said police detective Rick Gysin, the lead investigator. "We have not been able to draw any connection between the victims. However, the shootings are similar."

The gunfire came from a small, light blue or light gray hatchback car, possibly a Honda Civic. The exhaust was either modified or poorly maintained, police said. Several people were riding inside.

"This is pretty unusual," police Sgt. Craig Brandt said at a media briefing Tuesday morning. "I can't remember any shooting in the last 10 years where there was two drive-bys in one night with random victims."

There was another shooting at 11:15 p.m. Tuesday near the corner of Illinois Avenue and Fillmore Street, but no one was injured and that incident does not appear to be connected to the others, investigators said.

The victim from the first shooting, Carico, told police that someone in the vehicle tried to talk to him or get his attention before he was shot, police Sgt. Jim Sokolik said Tuesday night. Why the gunman fired was a mystery.

"He said the guys were younger," Sokolik said. "According to him, he doesn't have any idea why this happened."

Charles Graves, the assistant manager of the Alano Wahsatch Recovery House, said he heard the shooting and learned afterward that his work van may have saved his neighbor Josephson from more serious injuries.

The Ford Econoline was parked between the victim and the vehicle carrying the gunman.

"I got five bullet holes in my van, and he took one in the hip," said Graves, who lives at the halfway house for alcoholics and drug addicts at 1602 S. Wahsatch Ave.

Josephson walked to a neighbor's apartment at 1604 S. Wahsatch Ave. Joel Oleksa said he guided the wounded man to his couch and applied a towel to his hip until emergency crews arrived.

"If they keep doing this, I'll get a gun," Oleksa said. "I'm a veteran. I'll shoot back."

Detectives from the department's Violent Crimes Unit - usually only brought in on homicides - are working the case to try and apprehend the gunman or gunmen quickly.

Evidence technicians found some bullets or bullet fragments, but it's unclear whether they will be able to determine the caliber, Gysin said. Based on the wounds though, a small caliber round was likely used, he said.

In the shooting on Illinois, officers recovered some .40-caliber shell casings, and the description of the car was different from the one in the other incidents.

"It scared the crap out of me," said Tiffney Porter, 24, who lives in the 2900 block of Illinois Avenue with her children and said it sounded like the shooting was right outside her house. "Out of no where there was this ‘bam, bam, bam.' I checked on my family first to make sure they were OK."

Anyone with information on the shootings should call police at 444-7000 or detective Rick Gysin at 444-7500.

If callers wish to remain anonymous, they can call Crime Stoppers at 634-STOP (634-7867).