Suspect also connected to Spokane attack
CHENEY – After being arrested in connection to a shooting at the Cheney Starbucks, a teacher from East Valley High School in Spokane Valley is accused of multiple crimes.
Benjamin Hill, 41, was already facing an assault charge after Spokane police arrested him for shooting at his ex-wife’s car as she drove to work at Sacred Heart hospital in Spokane. That shooting happened May 18, 2023.
Court records show investigators believe it wasn’t the first time Hill tried to shoot his ex-wife.
Cheney Police say Hill was arrested in connection to a March 4 shooting at a Cheney Starbucks. He is now charged with attempted murder and assault in that case.
Court documents show a car was shot while waiting in the drive-thru. According to records no one was hit by the bullet, but it did nearly hit the driver in the head.
“A single bullet entered the rear passenger trunk window. Upon entry it skidded the interior roof and then continued to travel until it hit the front windshield and came to rest on the dashboard,” a responding officer reported.
No neighboring businesses were able to provide surveillance footage, but a bullet casing was found 60 yards away, records show.
The 9mm Luger casing was sent to the Washington State Patrol crime lab for analysis according to reports.
Records show the lab notified Cheney Police on June 8 that the casing matched a casing from a shooting that happened at Division and 6th in Spokane.
That was the same shooting that struck Hill’s ex-wife’s car as she drove to work reports say.
By that time, records say Hill had been arrested, charged, and was out on bond in that case.
With the forensic match on the bullet casings, investigators looked back at body camera video and interviews with witnesses at Starbucks in Cheney.
At that point, they were able to make another connection between the cases records show.
Reports say that Hill’s daughter and ex-wife were sitting in the Starbucks.
According to records the shooter would have been able to see Hill’s ex-wife and daughter from where the casing was found.
Court records show investigators believe Hill’s ex-wife to have been the target but the shooter missed and hit a car that was in the drive thru.
The victim whose car was hit in this case was random and unknown to Hill according to reports.
According to reports, Spokane police investigating the shooting near Sacred Heart had recovered the gun used in that incident.
Cheney Police then expedited a test firing of the same gun since Hill was out on bail at the time records show.
That test firing confirmed the gun used in the May 18 shooting was the same gun used in the March shooting at Cheney Starbucks.
Hill was arrested June 16 according to reports.
He’s now being held on $1 million bond, and his trial date is set for August 21 in both cases.
Matthew graduated from West Virginia University-Parkersburg in 2011 with a journalism degree. He's an award-winning photographer and enjoys writing stories about people.
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