Flare gun shot to the heart kills Washington man after Top Ramen dispute, police say
A 29-year-old is accused of killing a 41-year-old after he fired a modified flare gun at the man’s chest during a fight, Washington police said.
Philip Jan Urban was charged with second-degree murder in the killing of Bryan Lesick on Dec. 15 in Auburn, Washington, prosecutors said in charging documents.
Urban told police in a recorded interview that he had been woken up by a noise coming from his kitchen where Lesick was making Top Ramen.
The two got into an argument that turned violent. Urban told police he grabbed a flare gun loaded with modified rounds and fired it at Lesick’s chest because he was “tired of people taking advantage of him.”
Urban told police the modified round he’d loaded the flare gun with was an emptied shotgun shell filled with rock salt, wood or cork with “10 match heads,” which he said was meant to be less deadly.
Police responded to the shooting around 2:35 p.m. but Urban told police he had searched for his phone for about 30 minutes after the shooting and then called a friend over to the home for another 20 minutes before he’d called 911.
All the while, Lesick was on the ground with a “large hole” to his chest, police said.
When authorities arrived, Lesick’s body was unresponsive and cold to the touch, police said in the probable cause statement.
Lesick was pronounced dead after medical responders failed to resuscitate him, police said.
Authorities said Urban has fired the flare gun at another person before. A man came to Urban’s home to retrieve a tire he said was stolen, police said, so Urban shot the man in the leg. But that incident didn’t result in charges.
Urban was taken into custody, and his bail was set at $1 million.
He is scheduled to be arraigned on Jan. 3 in Kent, Washington.
Auburn is about 14 miles northeast of Tacoma.
This story was originally published December 21, 2021 at 2:27 PM with the headline "Flare gun shot to the heart kills Washington man after Top Ramen dispute, police say."
