Shooting suspect waives hearing

SANDPOINT — An Oldtown man accused of opening fire on a Priest River home earlier this month waived his right Wednesday to a preliminary hearing.

Jason Wyatt Bilbo, 32, is scheduled to be arraigned on June 18 on a charge of discharging a firearm into a dwelling, a felony.

There were no injuries in the May 19 shooting. The occupant of the home on Highway 57 was at work when the pre-dawn shooting occurred, although a bullet went through exterior and interior walls before striking a computer monitor in a bedroom.

At the time of his arrest, Bilbo denied shooting at the home or being in that neighborhood. A Chinese version of an AK-47 assault rifle was found in the cab of Bilbo's pickup truck. A casing found in the highway was of the same caliber as the weapon found in Bilbo's rig, according to an arrest report.

Bilbo denied there was any bad blood between him and the 34-year-old victim, although he later told a deputy the man had been spreading rumors about him and his estranged wife, the report said.

In exchange for waiving Wednesday's hearing, Bilbo was released on his own recognizance, court records show.