Witnesses describe shooting

Authorities say a Cathlamet man ended his night shooting another man in the stomach at the Duck Inn.

During his arraignment on November 23, Superior Court Judge Michael Sullivan ordered Jack Sebade, 73, to undergo a forensic mental health evaluation at Western State Hospital to determine if the defendant is competent to stand trial for shooting Darren Hall during an altercation at the Duck Inn.

The court advised Western State to check Sebade’s competency, sanity and mental state and determine if Sebade has the capacity to understand the proceedings and is able to know right from wrong in reference to the offence he is charged with.

From Wahkiakum County’s Probable Cause Statement: On October 24, Sebade told sheriff's deputies he had been drinking at the Duck Inn around midnight when he decided to leave. In the parking lot he found two women and decided to give one of them a religious pamphlet. Sebade said he went to his Volkswagen van and got the pamphlet and put a .22 magnum revolver into his pocket.

“Well, all I know,” said a witness who declined to be identified, “is that Jack and I talked for several hours, mostly about war, and he told me he was ‘packing’.”

“Sebade arrived at the Duck Inn about 8 p.m.,” said hostess Angela M. Stensland. “He had about four drinks before he left around midnight and I know he sat out in his van for a little while before the shooting.”

Stensland said that Darren Hall entered the bar around 10 p.m., and neither defendant nor victim spoke to each other all night.

“They sat at opposite ends of the bar, and I’m pretty sure neither of them knew each other. What ever happened to cause the shooting happened quickly after Hall left the bar,” said Stensland.

Sebade told police that shortly after he left the tavern at midnight he began talking to one of the women waiting in the Suburban for Hall, and another woman started to yell at him to leave her alone. About this time Hall and the woman he was with left the Duck Inn.

Sebade said Hall confronted him and told him to get back in his van; then Sebade said Hall hit him and knocked him to the ground. Seabade said that as he started to get up, he took the gun from his pocket and shot Hall.

“I took a break before all this happened,” said Stensland. “I went out to the parking lot and saw Jack sitting in his van.”

Stensland said she went back into the bar before Hall left, and a short while later, after Hall had left, “… that’s when I heard the shot above the karaoke music.”

Stensland said she hadn’t made it to the door when one of the women waiting in the suburban came running in yelling, “He’s been shot, He’s been shot.”

A few moments later Hall ran back into the building showing the bullet hole.

“He then ran back out saying, ‘I’m going to kick his a--’,” said Stensland.

Stensland said she opened the door and saw Hall kick at Sebade’s van door and then back away.

“Hall ran back in the bar,” said Stensland, “and by this time his wound had started to bleed. I told him I called the sheriff and he should wait for the ambulance. He said, ‘No I’m on probation.’ and left.”

The probable cause statement shows that when the deputies arrived at the Duck Inn, they found Sebade sitting in his van, in the parking lot. His revolver was cocked and lying on the passenger seat next to him. Sebade had a scratch and bruise on the right side of his face. The report also said he smelled of alcohol and did not respond when first ordered from his van.

The report also says that Hall told deputies he was sleeping in a car next to Sebade’s van when he heard the argument between Sebade and his two female friends. Hall told police he confronted Sebade and Sebade shot him in the stomach.

“That amazing,” said Stensland, “I had been serving him in the bar for about three hours.”

Sebade is free on $35,000 bail and is required to appear in court December 21.