Snohomish man charged in shooting at Folklife

A 22-year-old Snohomish man was charged Thursday with one count of second-degree assault after a gunshot wounded three people at the Northwest Folklife Festival in Seattle last weekend.

Prosecutors say Clinton Chad Grainger, a housepainter with a history of drug addiction and schizophrenia, intentionally injured Henry Morris, Sarah Thorsnes and Josh Penaluna.

Charging documents say the incident, which happened about 6:30 p.m. Saturday north of the International Fountain, began when Grainger looked at Morris, demanding to know his name.

Morris later told police he thought Grainger was looking for a fight and told him he didn't need to know his name. That's when Grainger pushed him in the chest and reached toward his ankle where he carried a 9 mm Glock pistol in an ankle holster, charging documents say.

Morris tackled Grainger in an attempt to wrestle the gun away from him, charging papers say. A friend of Morris' joined in and both were trying to hold Grainger when the gun went off so close to Morris' face he suffered powder burns on the upper lip and nose, charging papers say.

The stray bullet passed through Penaluna's hand and then went into Thorsnes' thigh. They were uninvolved in the fight and were taken to Harborview Medical Center for non-life-threatening injuries.

Grainger is being held on $350,000 bail. He has a history of anxiety and schizophrenia, according to court documents, and has been on methadone for drug addiction since he was 18. Grainger obtained a concealed-weapons permit from the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office, which does a criminal records check before granting permits.

State rules on concealed-weapons permits and federal guidelines on who can possess a gun address mental illness.

The state concealed-weapons rules ask whether the applicant has been confined in a mental-health facility for more than 14 days for treatment or committed as criminally insane.

Even if an applicant answers "yes," there is an opportunity to explain the circumstances or provide evidence of rehabilitation.

The federal guidelines ban anyone who is addicted to drugs or is "of unsound mind" from possessing a gun.

Snohomish County sheriff's Capt. Kevin Prentiss said there is a limit to the information the Sheriff's Office is able to obtain where someone's mental-health history is concerned.

Unless mental-illness issues have become a police issue — as in a suicide attempt, or a crime — police will never know about it, he said.

Nancy Bartley: 206-464-8522 or nbartley@seattletimes.com