Washington man arrested in shooting on Christmas Day at St. George motel

St. George police have arrested a man they said went on a Christmas Day shooting inside a motel room.

The shooting ended with a confrontation in an intersection where the 52-year-old Tumwater, Wash., man was taken into custody without incident.

"He was under the influence of cocaine," St. George Police Sgt. James Van Fleet said Wednesday.

The night manager of the Comfort Suites on Main Street called 911 at about 4:30 a.m. Tuesday after hearing multiple shots inside the hotel. Officers quickly responded and spotted a man on the second floor of the motel, holding a gun.

The man fled but was arrested in the middle of the street a few minutes later.

"There was a short foot chase and officers took him into custody right in the middle of the intersection at Main Street and Bluff Street," Van Fleet said. "They located a .45-caliber Glock handgun."

Timothy Reynolds was taken to the hospital and then booked into the Purgatory Jail early Tuesday morning on investigation of aggravated assault, weapons possession, interfering with an arrest, disorderly conduct, criminal mischief, discharging a firearm and cocaine possession.

Police said Reynolds had been staying alone in his room, where investigators believe he was under the influence of cocaine when the shooting began.

"He believed that people were trying to break into his room," Van Fleet said. "Because of this, he fired two rounds inside a closet in the room and approximately nine rounds out the door and in a window."

No one inside the motel was injured, police said.

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