An airman at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, remains in critical but stable condition after being shot in the chest at a laundromat over the weekend, police said Wednesday.
Meanwhile, authorities arrested Lajuan C. Lee, 38, who was found hiding in a Ontario, Oregon, lumberyard after Mountain Home police put out an all-points-bulletin for the suspect, said Officer Melanie Broughton, a department spokeswoman. Police were able to identify Lee from witnesses and surveillance footage from the laundromat, she said.
Lee will be extradited back to Idaho, where he faces an aggravated assault charge, the officer said.
Neither police nor Air Force officials have released the name of the shooting victim, although a base spokeswoman said the airman belongs to the 366th Logistics Readiness Squadron.
The shooting occurred about 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the Econo Wash Laundromat in Mountain Home, Broughton said. The airman was flown to Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Idaho's capital city of Boise, where he had undergone at least two surgeries, she said.
The motive for the shooting is still under investigation, Broughton said. The airman did not know his attacker, but police do not believe the shooting was random. Nor was he targeted due to his military service, she said.
"This is a tragic incident and our thoughts and prayers go out to our airman's family and friends during this difficult time," Col. Byron Anderson, 366th Fighter Wing Vice commander, said in a statement.
