Bellingham police responded to multiple noise complaints Saturday night at the Lark Bellingham apartment complex, where there was a large party and multiple brawls in the landing of building 850. When police arrived in the 800 block of Viking Circle they observed a man pull out a handgun and fire three gunshots into the air.
Several people were injured in the fight, but police did not locate anyone injured by the gunshots, Bellingham Police Department Public Information Officer Lt. Claudia Murphy said in an email. Officers are still investigating the gunshots.
Tyler Fay, 22, lives on the second floor of the building where the party took place. He got home around 11 p.m. Saturday.
After trying to settle in for the night, Fay said he heard a scuffle and screams of partygoers in the hall, and Fay’s roommate opened the front door at the same moment the gunshots went off.
Fay said there was confusion and chaos after the gunshots went off.
“It was really startling because I would not have expected that to happen right outside my door,” he said.
Fay said there were bloodstains on the ground outside his apartment and multiple other Lark residents shared bloodstain photos on Discord.
Murphy said there were several people injured from the brawl and some people fell down the stairs of the building.
Before the gunshots went off, a video showed multiple people fighting in a large crowd in the hallway and on the stairs of building 850. In another video, a man breaks a bottle over another man’s head.
Crime scene tape was put up by police shortly after shots were fired at Lark Bellingham building 850 on April 23. (Photo courtesy of Madyson Pritchett)
Police made one arrest, Jayden D. Nilsen, 18, after he was seen fighting another man after the party had dispersed. Officers pulled Nilsen off and told him to leave or wait for medical attention. Nilsen did neither and was seen shouting at officers and medics.
Murphy said Nilsen repeatedly tried to enter the crime scene by stepping under the crime scene tape, even after being told not to enter or face arrest. Nilsen was arrested and taken to jail for probable cause for resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, obstructing law enforcement and being a minor in possession of intoxicating liquor.
Lark has been working closely with law enforcement to prosecute anyone responsible for posing a threat and will penalize residents who are confirmed to have caused a disturbance or hosted guests who threatened other residents’ safety, Lark Bellingham General Manager Nora Davis said in an email.
Davis also said residents are permitted to host a limited number of guests, but Lark does not allow activity that causes a disturbance.
Madyson Pritchett, a Whatcom Community College student, said there are frequent parties at Lark since most of the residents are students. Fay also said parties are common at Lark, especially on his floor.
“These past few weekends, actually, on my floor and the complex there’s been people drinking on the stairs, people throwing bottles and cans off the stairs to the lower levels and there’s always cans littered everywhere,” Fay said.
Police are still actively investigating this incident and ask that anyone present at the scene who has information or video of the events contact them in one of the following ways:
Email tip – www.cob.org/tips
Phone tip line – 360-778-8611
Non-emergency line – 360-676-6911 to request to speak to an officer.
