Mother says shooting suspect has history of mental illness

June 12--A woman suspected of shooting her stepfather in the leg Wednesday at his Colbert home also may have shot him in the head and fired multiple shots at a visiting neighbor, according to deputies' reports.

Before the early-morning attack, deputies suspect Jennifer Anderson, 38, lay in wait under the front porch, dressed in black with a hood over her head.

She is charged with attempted murder in the shooting of her stepfather, Dennis Platz, 63, and first-degree assault on suspicion of attempting to shoot his neighbor, Daniel Carver, 62.

Anderson is being held in the Spokane County Jail on a $500,000 bond.

Carver told deputies he called Platz around 5:30 a.m. to borrow a field sprayer. Platz, who was sleeping in a camping trailer with his wife, met Carver outside the home at 17911 N. Hardesty Road. Then they watched a black-clad figure emerge from under the porch, pull out a handgun and begin firing, reports say.

Carver ducked. Platz was struck in the leg and fell to the ground, court records say. Carver told deputies he watched the shooter stand over Platz and, without saying a word, shoot at least one round at his head.

A deputy reported finding bullet fragments in one of Platz's ears at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center. Platz was in serious condition there Thursday afternoon, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Anderson fled the scene of Wednesday's shooting in the rural area in northern Spokane County. Deputies caught her in a wooded area about a mile away from the home. In the same area, they found a handgun and an extra magazine matching the .40-caliber shells found at the crime scene.

This was not the first bout of violence between Anderson and her stepfather.

In early February, during a brief period when Anderson was living at the home, Anderson and Platz got into a fight in which she allegedly stabbed him while he choked her. Platz denied that allegation but was arrested on a charge of second-degree assault. In late April, someone tried to shoot Platz as he slept on the couch in the front room of the home. Platz could not identify the shooter, who fired multiple shots through a window, but told deputies he suspected it was Anderson.

Gail Platz told deputies that Anderson, her daughter, has a history of mental illness.

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