A Camano Island man accused of shooting and killing another man July 28 made a preliminary appearance in Island County Superior Court Friday afternoon.

According to Island County Sheriff Mark Brown, a man building a deck on Camano Island heard a gunshot at a neighboring home on Heather Drive at about 11:30 a.m. Thursday.

He found a man later identified as 34-year-old Joseph Hicks laying dead in a driveway from a bullet wound.

The alleged shooter, Ezekiel Scannell-McCrae, 36, dropped a .357-caliber handgun and a backpack on the ground, according to Island County Sheriff Mark Brown.

Scannell-McCrae initially walked away slowly but then sat down on the driveway. He was still on the ground when deputies arrived and arrested him on suspicion of first-degree murder.

The witness secured the gun and backpack before law enforcement got to the scene.

Brown said the two men knew each other and the crime was not a random shooting. The motive, however, is still under investigation.