UPDATE: 2:05 p.m.
MARYSVILLE – A 43-year-old Granite Falls man went on a shooting spree with an automatic weapon Wednesday (Oct. 15) night in Granite Falls and Lake Stevens before being shot himself by Marysville police.
The suspect shot a Marysville Police Department sergeant in an exchange of gunfire.
“10-30 I’ve been hit. 10-30 been hit,” can be heard on the scanner.
The sergeant, who has been with the department for 19 years, was treated and released from Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett.
The suspect is being treated at the same hospital. It is believed his injuries are non-life threatening, Snohomish County sheriff’s spokeswoman Shari Ireton said.
This aftertoon (Oct. 17) detectives confirmed that at least two Marysville officers discharged their weapons during the incident. One has been with the agency for five years and the other for three and a half years. Both have been placed on paid administrative leave, as is standard procedure.
Dispatch confirmed that they received approximately 30 “shots fired” calls between 9:15 and 10:15 p.m. in the Granite Falls, Lake Stevens and Marysville areas.
The suspect is still in the hospital. When he is discharged he is expected to be booked into the Snohomish County jail on two counts of 1st degree assault with a firearm and three counts of drive-by shooting. The exact time and date he will be booked is unknown at this time.
The suspect was shot at the intersection of 51st Ave. NE and Grove Street at around 10:10 p.m. Drivers were asked to avoid the area for the morning commute as the investigation continues.
The shooting spree began around 9:15 p.m. when an unmanned patrol car at the Granite Falls Police Station had the windows shot out and several rounds went into the police station.
A 9-1-1 call also came in from the 10700 block of Mountain Loop Highway where numerous shots were heard. A witness reported that the suspect vehicle was a white truck with a brown bed liner.
At around 9:45 p.m. additional calls came in of shots fired at the Lake Stevens Police Department. A patrol car was damaged as well as another vehicle and an animal control vehicle. A readerboard outside the station and the building also were damaged.
In Marysville, police spotted the suspect vehicle on 64th Ave. NE around 10:10 p.m. The suspect stopped the vehicle and shots were fired. That is when the sergeant was injured.
The suspect then drove west on 67th Ave. NE and more shots were fired near Grove Elementary School.
The suspect continued to just east of the intersection of 51st Ave. NE and Grove St., where he stopped the vehicle. More shots were fired, and he was apparently hit.
“Driver is on the ground compliant and wounded. Suspect bleeding heavily from the head,” can be heard on the scanner report.
The suspect tossed his rifle out of the truck and obeyed officer commands to get out.
Investigators have confirmed that several firearms have been found in and near the truck.
Mackenzie Harris, a 17-year-old Marysville girl, said she was outside with a friend when she saw police pull over a pickup. She said the truck driver pulled out a gun and started shooting.
“We heard gunshots, so we ran inside,” Harris said. “While we were running up to my room, we heard, like, two dozen more shots being fired. We walked back downstairs and heard cops screaming and a bunch of yelling.”
Annie Fitzgerald and Chris Tracey were playing video games in their second-floor apartment in the Sogge building when they heard gunfire.
“We heard pow, pow, pow, pow, pow, like ten shots,” maybe more, Fitzgerald said.
Tracey added, “There was definitely gunfire going both directions.”
Police converged on a pickup. The pair watched officers approach, hollering for somebody to get on the ground.
“It just scared the hell out of me,” Fitzgerald said.
Natasha Huestis was studying for a college class at a nearby Marysville home when she heard the gunfire. She initially assumed it was the TV in the other room where her boyfriend was watching “Sons of Anarchy.”
“Those TV shows can seem so real,” she said.
She called a firefighter friend she knew was listening to the scanner.
“The fire guy said, ‘Stay inside and lock all the doors,'” she said.
Meanwhile, a sheriff’s office sergeant was involved in a one car collision around 11 p.m. while driving southbound on I-5, striking a guard rail near exit 208. David Bowman, 45, of Granite Falls was transported to Skagit Valley Hospital in Mount Vernon. The extent of his injuries are unknown.
The sergeant was enroute to the shots-fired calls in the Granite Falls area when the collision occurred. It is believed, but not yet confirmed, that he may have suffered from a medical episode, Ireton said.
Following are excerpts from a scanner report of the shooting of the officer and suspect in Marysville:
“Back up, back up. It’s an automatic weapon he’s firing at us.”
“The car on the other side, watch out, he’s headed to you. It’s like an AK-47 or something. Disabled my vehicle.”
“Be careful of the crossfire.”
“10-30 I’ve been hit. 10-30 been hit.”
“Roll aid.”
Suspect is fleeing in his vehicle northbound on 71st.
“He’s coming to you on Grove. Shots fired. Multiple shots.”
“Jim, are you OK?”
“We are in pursuit westbound on Grove.”
“Firing as he goes boys.”
“Keep your distance.”
“Shots fired. Shots fired. He’s still shooting back at us.”
“I’m going to take a shot at him as he comes by.”
“Back off a little bit.”
“Back off. Shots fired.”
“He threw his rifle out the window.”
“He’s by the church hiding.”
“Driver is on the ground compliant and wounded.”
“Suspect bleeding heavily from the head.”
“We need aid. Gunshot wound to the head.”
–Everett Daily Herald reporter Eric Stevick contributed to this report.