Motive in shooting questioned

SANDPOINT — The friends and family of a man who was slain in a shooting in southern Bonner County earlier this month are disputing authorities’ contention that the homicide was matter of self-defense.

Joshua Matthew Cole was fatally wounded on Oct. 12 after allegedly attacking a 41-year-old woman and her 70-year-old mother on Rebel Ridge Road.

“He wouldn’t have laid a hand on either of those women and the evidence shows that they approached him,” said Tina Johnson, Cole’s girlfriend.

Johnson has text messages from the 41-year-old’s husband in which he states the women threw rocks at Cole before opening fire.

“She shot him in the back,” Johnson added.

Johnson said Cole went to a neighbor’s property looking for help with the installation of a car stereo, which drew the attention of the two women, who are African American. Cole had a shaved head and tattoos, which Johnson believes the women mistook him for a racist skinhead.

“They took one look at him and prejudged the situation,” said Johnson, who met with sheriff’s detectives on Friday to express their concerns about the investigation and its preliminary findings.

Cole’s father, Chris, believes his son was drawn into an altercation, which may have roots in an earlier confrontation his son had with his killer’s husband.

“The bottom line is I think they provoked him,” Chris Cole said.

Cole’s sister, Jessica, maintains that investigators only took statements from the women involved in the shooting, which cemented the belief that they were acting in self-defense.

“The picture they’re painting of him is not who he was,” Jessica Cole said.

Sheriff’s officials said on Friday that the investigation into the shooting remains open and additional interviews are pending. However, Undersheriff Ror Lakewold said all indications continue to point toward self-defense shooting.

“We, too, have heard some from family and friends expressing concerns over the possibility of this being a self-defense case. We are committed to interviewing every witness and exploring all evidence prior to submitting the completed case file to the prosecutors office,” Lakewold said in an email response about the status of the investigation.

Lakewold anticipates the investigation into the shooting should be complete within the next two weeks.

Cole’s family, meanwhile, is hoping for answers.

“There’s just too many questions. He has a lot of friends, a lot of family, and he had a lot to live for and look forward to. He’s not the crazy person he’s being made out to be,” Johnson said.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.