On the evening of September 23, 2023, a vehicle was found crashed into a utility pole on Tracyton Boulevard NW in Silverdale, Washington, after striking mailboxes. The driver, 25-year-old Bradley Smith, was found dead in the driver’s seat from a gunshot wound to the head; a 24-year-old male passenger was outside the car with a bloody shirt and complaining of pain.

The passenger, identified as 24-year-old Zachery Ian Streun of Poulsbo, told deputies Smith had been waving a gun while they were driving and that Smith had accidentally shot himself. Investigators did not accept that account after an autopsy and forensic work concluded the fatal wound could not have been self-inflicted: the gun was fired from an intermediate range of 10 to 15 inches, and Smith — who was left-handed — had a right‑side head wound, which investigators said made a self-shot biomechanically unlikely.

A year after the shooting, on September 30, 2024, Streun was arrested and charged with first-degree manslaughter. A social media video from earlier that day allegedly showed Streun handling a handgun recklessly. If readers have information about what happened that night, contact the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office.