$350,000 bail set for suspect in shooting at Northwest Folklife Festival

A King County judge Monday set bail at $350,000 for a Snohomish man suspected of firing a gun and injuring three people during Seattle's Northwest Folklife Festival.

A prosecutor told the judge that Clinton Chad Grainger, 22, has a "history of anxiety and schizophrenia" for which he takes medication, and that he's in a methadone program.

"We believe from the facts of this case that the defendant is a grave danger to the community," said Deputy Prosecutor Jamila Taylor.

But Grainger's father said his son is under a doctor's care and has plans to attend community college.

"He works. He lives with me. He's not a flight risk," the father told the judge, promising that his son would make all required court appearances.

Prosecutors said that at about 6:20 p.m. Saturday, Grainger got into a fight with another man at the annual festival.

"The defendant reached for and grabbed an ankle holster which was secured to his ankle. [The other man] attempted to stop him and, during the struggle, the weapon was discharged," Taylor said.

She said a single bullet was fired, and went through the man's nasal passage, then through another man's forearm before becoming lodged in a woman's right thigh.

It is not clear whether Grainger knew the man he fought, who was one of the shooting victims. The two other victims were not involved in the scuffle.

Prosecutors have until Thursday to charge Grainger, who has been booked on suspicion of three counts of assault.

Prosecutors initially asked for bail to be set at $500,000.

"There were hundreds of people there. There were family members there. There were children there," Taylor told the judge, according to video recorded by KING-TV.

Police seized a Glock 9-mm handgun and an ankle holster from the suspect, according to a police report.

Two of the wounded were identified as Sarah Thorsnes, 21, who was hit in the thigh, and her boyfriend, Joshua Penaluna, who was struck in the forearm. Their injuries were not considered life-threatening.

Thorsnes told The Seattle Times on Sunday that she was looking forward to graduating from the University of Washington and had sat down near Seattle Center's International Fountain with Penaluna and her puppy to take in the festival.

She didn't even realize at first that she'd been shot.

The shooting was the first incident of serious violence in the festival's 37-year history, said Rob Townsend, Folklife's executive director. Some 250,000 people were expected to attend the event, which ended Monday.

Court records indicate that as a juvenile, Grainger pleaded guilty to possession of stolen property in one case and in another case was sentenced to six months community supervision for misdemeanor theft. Since 2001, he has been charged in a string of traffic offenses.