A Twentynine Palms man is in custody following an argument Saturday night in Thousand Palms in which three men were shot–including himself. According to the Palm Desert Sheriff’s Department, about 9:20, residents reported they heard shots fired and a woman screaming in the 78000 block of Varner Road. Although no one was there when deputies arrived, they did find evidence of a crime scene. About 10 p.m., a local hospital notified deputies that a man–later identified as Malik Trotter, 21, of Twentynine Palms, had shown up at the hospital with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound. Shortly afterward, another hospital reported that two other men had arrived at their emergency room suffering from gunshot wounds. A preliminary investigation revealed that the three wounded men were related to the earlier report of shots fired. Investigators determined that Trotter had argued and fought with the two other men, and shot them. They say that Trotter also shot himself during the altercation. Two of the men were treated and released; a third man remains hospitalized, but investigators did not say which one. Malik Trotter was booked into the Riverside County Jail in Indio on several counts of assault with a deadly weapon involving a firearm.
