A ring of slippery thieves struck Seattle-area car dealers over the course of several months, driving off with more than a million dollars worth of vehicles, as a surveillance video shows.
Since KING 5 aired this story last year, at least 50 high-dollar domestic cars were stolen.
State Patrol auto theft investigators were closing in on a suspected ringleader, DeVaughn Dorsey.
Then a late-night shooting happened. A woman and her 10-year-old son were hit by bullets fired from windows outside their Seattle home. They were seriously injured, but survived.
The woman was a witness in the growing case against Dorsey.
"The allegations are extremely serious. They strike at the heart of the justice system and we're going to investigate an allegation like this to the ends of the earth," said Mike Lang, Assistant United States Attorney.
Prosecutors said Thursday a grand jury charged Dorsey with trying to kill the witness to avoid a return to prison from which he had just been released for a similar car theft scheme.
The woman and her son have fully recovered, but authorities aren't saying if they are now in witness protection.
A total of six people have been charged in the car theft case. Four have already pled guilty to their crimes.