A Pullman resident facing first-degree assault charges was released from Whitman County jail today on bail.

Pullman Police Cmdr. Chris Tennant said the alleged incident occurred at 2 a.m. Saturday morning.

“A pedestrian was crossing in the crosswalk and a vehicle on [Grand Ave] came up and was waiting for him to cross,” Tennant said. “There was an exchange of verbal yelling and screaming from the car.”

He said the passenger of the vehicle allegedly called the pedestrian, who was black, a racial slur. Tennant said the pedestrian responded to the comments made by the vehicle occupants.

“Right after this verbal interchange the driver of the car pointed a pistol at the pedestrian then drove away,” Tennant said.

He said the pedestrian called 911 and supplied a physical description of the car along with a partial license plate.

“We were able to talk to a witness that corroborated the vocal interchange between the car [occupants] and the pedestrian,” he said. “The witness did not see the gun though.”

Tennant said the police later apprehended the driver and recovered a gun from his car. He said the driver of the car was identified as Jovanni Arellano Flores, a 25-year-old Pullman resident.

“There were no shots fired. No one was hurt,” he said. “The gun did have rounds in the magazine, but not the chamber when we found it. That doesn’t mean that was the status at the time it was being pointed.”

Tennant said any charges Arellano Flores may or may not face is decided by the Whitman County Prosecutor’s Office.