6 Dead In Washington State Shooting Spree

Sheriff's Deputy Among Dead; 2 More Wounded; Suspect Turns Self In

(CBS/AP)  A shooting rampage Tuesday afternoon in northwest Washington has left six people dead, including a sheriff's deputy, the State Patrol said. A suspect in the shootings has surrendered.

Two people were wounded during the violence in Skagit County, including a state trooper who reportedly was grazed in the arm by a bullet.

A man was arrested after turning himself in at the Skagit County sheriff's office in Mount Vernon, Trooper Keith Leary said. The man was not immediately identified but Leary said he is known to authorities as "someone with a mental illness."

The dead were found at multiple crime scenes. They included the deputy shot while responding to a call and a second person killed at the same location near the small town of Alger; two construction workers found shot nearby, and a third body found a few houses away, Leary said. Authorities were investigating any connection among those sites.

A motorist was shot and killed on Interstate 5 as the suspect fled south.

The sheriff's deputy was responding to a disturbance call around 2:20 p.m., reports CBS affiliate KIRO-TV in Seattle. When the sheriff’s deputy arrived, one person was already dead in the home, said Leary. Some time went by before the police station called the officer to do a status check. When they received no answer, police responded to the sheriff’s deputy and found him fatally shot in the head, Skagit County police said.

The wounded included a motorcyclist who was shot in the arm at a Shell gas station in Alger and the trooper hit as the suspect raced along I-5.

After the shootings in the Alger area, the armed man raced south on Interstate 5 at speeds in excess of 90 mph, with troopers, sheriff's deputies and Mount Vernon police in pursuit, Leary said.

The civilian motorist was shot and killed and the unidentified trooper was grazed by a bullet along I-5 near a rest stop, Leary said. The trooper was treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

The victims were not immediately identified.

The first shootings were reported shortly after 2 p.m. Tuesday and the suspect was in custody by about 4:30 p.m.

The pursuit ended when the suspect drove to Mount Vernon precinct of the Skagit County Sheriff’s Office and surrendered, Leary said. A bullet hole was found in the passenger side window of the suspect's truck, reported KIRO.

State Patrol troopers temporarily closed all southbound lanes of I-5 north of Burlington for a period Tuesday evening, backing up traffic for miles, as they investigated that crime scene.

[gramto8]

Not all liberals say "Ban guns!" but there SHOULD be some way to make sure people like the one in the article can''t get hold of them!

[rudy654-2009]

Not all liberals say "Ban guns!" but there SHOULD be some way to make sure people like the one in the article can''''t get hold of them!


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by gramto8 at 10:58 PM

Exactly!

[clpo13]

Wow. This happened near where I live. Definitely scary.

[ubrew12]

"Police said the suspect is known for having mental health issues and that he is on a Mount Vernon watch list."

I think they should give people that fit that description machine guns. Their paranoia means they have more enemies out there than the rest of us.

[brainuser-2009]

Yep, another ''law-abiding'' citizen (else he''d be locked up) with access to guns. And he''s a ''normal'' guy until he goes wacko and people say, ''well, he shouldn''t have had a gun''. Well, right, he shouldn''t have. And neither should any other wacko. Yet the NRA and the other gun nuts believe that EVERYBODY should carry. How asinine a thought! I guarantee you that I could walk right up to any one of these morons, pull a gun, and shoot them dead. Oh yeah, their gun ''should'' have saved them, but it didn''t. That''s because more people carrying guns isn''t the answer. But obviously, bozos like ''mawskrat'' and ''cwazyrabt'' (who are the same poster) can''t grasp this simple concept. They should wake up and grow up.

[blackyowe]

I am a liberal and I own lots of guns. Out here in the country everyone has guns. Liberals and Conservatives all have guns in rural American. This struggle is a Urban Suburban culture war. Keep your violence and you bitter anti gun sentiments in Suburbia please we leave in peace out here!

[tersans]

It makes no difference how many time it is said but "People kill not guns" If it wasn''t guns it could be a knife, baseball bat, pen or pencil. You name it and some "people" will find a way to use it to kill. Maybe someday humanity will wake up but I doubt it.

[barbaram99]

We are in Seattle. Vince he told me about it. He live there years ago and knows that area and used buy gas there. I read about it on KIRO TV ch 7 here. What a mess. The right to bear arms don''t allow this. Frankly the gent is mentally ill and that is one right he don''t have. It is sad we as nation can''t keep guns and the like out of the paws forgive me nutty people. I have lived here over 10 years.

[wamha]

With all due respect to previous submissions: The point I think has been inadvertantly missed is that this series of events could have very easily been prevented. If you have seen the very personal interviews with this individual''s mother, you would hear a story of failed mental health treatment. It is pretty bizarre that this person was "on a Mt. Vernon watch list" and yet he was having difficulty accessing mental health services. Something is wrong with this picture. I urge all of you to ask the right questions--yes, this person must be brought to justice but let''s not overlook the missed opportunities that could have easily prevented this tragedy. This story is certainly about much more than an issue of access to guns. It is about failed systems and the loss of hope and desperate times that unfortunately led to desperate measures. While this individual must pay for his crimes, I ask the community to to come together in support of access to a wide array of mental health treatments. There are people with real problems who need real help. I grieve for all of the victims of this horrific tragedy. This story is truly a "heart breaker" for us tireless mental health advocates. May healing somehow come to all of those involved in this senseless act of hopelessness. JSJ

[barbaram99]

It is the person that is bent on this. Why we may never know. I think they will have the answers in future as they learn more about the brain and how it works or don''t work..Is the brain reprogaemmed after watching this mess on TV,abused child hood etc..I don''t think so. Some are born evil. Some its a trill to do this. I am appalled.

[caliengineer]

We will be able to better control this nation when there is more justice, fairness & kindness. Read Nehemiah, Ezekiel 22:30, Isaiah. Because of the evil running rampant in the hearts of men, there is evil in the land.

Learn more about the brain??? Satan has got you! Don''t think so? Research what Roger Monreau has to say...

[gmond]

OK, so let''s say this is a case of a mentally disturbed person who had trouble getting the care he needed. However, he had no trouble getting a gun and using it, and then had no trouble making a sensible decision to surrender to police rather than being shot. Is mental illness an elective now?

[barbaram99]

They can''t get the help they need. Money..It cost money to get the care they need. It is spent on the illegal wars and not here at home. It is hopeless. Yet we are a 3rd world nation in alot of ways..If this was his way of begging for help he went about it wrong. Why did he do it. Will he get life or death..

[jumkey]

Keep your violence and you bitter anti gun sentiments in Suburbia please we leave in peace out here!

Posted by BlackYowe

Bite me gun lover.

When you are able to love people with same passion you love you inanimate pieces of metal you may address us humans. Until then you are noting more than a pimple on the $ss of humanity who makes excused for the killings of innocents.

[tinaackerson]

First of all, if everyone were bearing arms, he may have killed the first person, but it would have stopped there%u2026.so eff all you anti gun people. Second, I have worked with the mentally ill, on the medical side of it, and they do not want help, and they do not accept help, and they constantly refuse to take their medications, and they think they are cured all the time%u2026..I could go on and on. No, not all of htem, but MOST of them. Is that a failed system?? No. Anyone that thinks it%u2019s a failed system when an individual refuses accessible assistance is a blind fool. It%u2019s the person%u2019s fault, just like using a gun in an unethical manner is an individual person%u2019s fault.

We have gotten lazy in blaming the gun, blaming the system, blaming the music they are listening to, when we need to start putting blame where blame is due%u2026.on the person!

Any mom is going to stand behind their child and give excuses%u2026especially at such an early hour after the tragic accident.

I live here btw, I was driving northbound getting off on Kincaid when this whole mess was taking place. Of course I heard about it on the radio just seconds after I passed it. Sad, very very sad.

[sistatee-2009]

Bet this wingnut voted for Bush too.
Posted by pirmin3 at 01:01 AM : Sep 03, 2008

Nope. He wrote in, "I am Serpent481, God of the living flesh that burns in Helll. I cast my vote for...don''t tell me....it''ll come to me....it''s right on the tip of my forked tongue....oh yeah....now I remember....I cast my vote for Zhora, the snake-lady in Blade Runner!

[libsluv2spit]

Bet this wingnut voted for Bush too.

Posted by pirmin3 at 01:01 AM : Sep 03, 2008
+ report abuse

******

a conservative in washington state?? chances he is a liberal..and chances are he is praying to his lucky stars that a liberal wins the white house..criminals and terrorists are really hoping for an obama win.

[yamuttya]

US gun laws are insane

[libsluv2spit]

When you are able to love people with same passion you love you inanimate pieces of metal you may address us humans. Until then you are noting more than a pimple on the $ss of humanity who makes excused for the killings of innocents.

Posted by jumkey at 12:45 AM : Sep 03, 2008
+ report abuse

********

I REALLY REALLY DOUBT THAT THIS GUY WHO COMMITED THIS SHOOTOUT WOULD AGREE WITH YOU..I THINK HE RATHER KILL YOU THAN LOVE YOU..

[libsluv2spit]

US gun laws are insane

Posted by yamuttya at 02:39 AM : Sep 03, 2008
+ report abuse

US laws for the CRIMINAL AND CRIMINALLY MINDED are insane..

compounded by bleeding heart liberals who tend to have this affinity for murderers from BEHIND THIER GATED COMMUNITIES.

[riptide213]

An American story.

Mental health, the forgotten national, state, and local health issue shame.

A bona fide inconvenient truth of America%u2019s people in need.

Add this tangible homeland safety issue to long list of unsettled American stories that next President of the United States of America must genuinely resolve.

Please refocus our US national priorities; leave no American behind.

Use US tax dollar to fix US issues at home, like a real comprehensive mental health treatment and support mandate.

Prevention, intervention, continuous active management vs. low priority, low budget, not my problem, not my department, revolving door brush off, write off too late melt down tragedy resulting in a 911 crisis repeated across the nation.

Charity begins at home; a proactive, assertive, comprehensive US citizen health strategy within our own national borders deserves our full support and attention.

How national and state elected officials take the initiative to support rather than react to Americans with mental health issues must be a barometer for all US citizens to measure successful or failing government.

[tmittelstaed]

Can we possibly have an investigation to find out how this kook got a hold of his gun or guns, who he bought them from? I find it very hard to believe that a mentally ill person would pass a background check and even harder to believe that this kook got his guns without the gun seller violating a few laws.

[ahrats]

It appears the police fell flat on this one. You could not catch the guy until he turn himself in with one dead police officer, another wounded, and several other victums killed. What you police guys do not own a helicopter, have a description of the killer vehicle, just let him drive where ever he want to kill some more, He probablay ran out of bullets.

[slim1h2o]

The man was not immediately identified but Leary said he is known to authorities as "someone with a mental illness."

There are two groups that share blame for this shooting, the authorities that allowed this person to walk around in public without treatment, and mental health professionals that didn''t treat this person.

[welshwoman-2009]

Stop blaming guns, laws and gun dealers. Mentally ill people are the root of the problem. If we would deal effectively with the illness (which their families and friends usually know about) it would help a lot. Unfortunately, the law enforcement community are just the first responders and they have very little control in these situations because of human rights issues. Do you homework and stop spouting off without knowing what you are talking about.

[godzfan]

well said,Welshwoman.
I too have a mentally ill child and in order to get anything done the person has to be willing to get treatment. It is tragic that the only time the courts can step in and put them in a hopsital is when something of this nature occurs.
As Welshman said it has to do with the persons rights. The most the police can do is get a 72 hour hold on them for onservation and in our case the child knows how to act to get released.
The doctors have diagnosed her as early schitzoid personality disorder and that she could become homocidal but since she is on social security medicaid would be paying the bill for the state hospital and it would be like robbing Peter to pay Paul. In other words there is no profit in one state agency paying another.
So in the end you have events of this nature taking place. Nothing to do with Guns,TV,or Video games.Just straight out government bureaucracy and red tape.

[godzfan]

Posted by tmittelstaed at 05:42 AM : Sep 03, 2008
I find it very hard to believe that a mentally ill person would pass a background check and even harder to believe that this kook got his guns without the gun seller violating a few laws.
-------------------------------------------
The only question on the application for a gun is: Have you ever been treated for a mental illness?
YES or NO
You don''t have to tell someone that because its a violation of you patient rights not to mention civil rights. The same question is asked on the Commercial drivers liscense for truck drivers yet I know of 2 that have been in hospitals for mental problems and yet are running our nations roads with an 80,000 lb. weapon.
Wanna yell at someone don''t yell at the gun dealer,yell at the government that makes it impossible to get someone over the age of 18 hospitalized or make them take their meds.

[bob5ford]

Someone should look at the kill rate in all of Africa, a lot of Asia and eastern europe, including Russia. Then maybe the U.S. wouldn''t look so bad. Only in police states (most of europe) are where the populace is very tightly controlled is there a lower death rate. Just look at Mexico, there death rate from crime is way above the U.S, with over 2,500 from drug crime in the first half of 2008 alone. Their gun death rate is 3 times that of the U.S. and the overall crime death rate is almost 4 times that of the U.S. South Africa leads the world in gun deaths, with Brazil and Columbia among those higher then the U.S. Even North Ireland has a higher one. Want to institute gun control, do it too those countries having a higher gun death rate then the U.S. (about half the world) first. If it works then maybe we''ll consider it.

[gramto8]

Mental people are broken & defective. They don''''t work right and need to be gotten rid of. Would anyone really really mind if we just drowned them all in the sea? Would they mind? It would clear up the homeless problem real quick.

Posted by scnitelifelv at 01:05 AM : Sep 03, 2008

Get real!! There are many, many types of mental health issues. You could be talking anything from clinical depression to severe paranoid schizophrenia to any other psychosis. How can you justify your inane comment about ''really mind if we just drowned them all in the sea''? I think you should be the first to test the waters!

[panhandlpete]

"Someone with a mental problem" .....a phrase which changes the whole meaning of this story. Was this just the perception of the locals because this person did not think or act like the rest of folk, or was this label pinned on this individual by a professional head-shrink?

If he was so mentally deranged to commit murder, why would he have the good sense to turn himself in to the sheriff to prevent being shot and killed by those chasing him? Maybe the whole story is not printed here.

[gramto8]

America is Broken! The decadence, drug culture and gang warfare(especially illegal immigrant gangs) have destroyed our culture while the PROGRESSIVES(common term for Bolshevik subversives), have worked hard to tear down our culture and morals while trying to blame Bush for every thing that comes under the sun. How sick can we become before the folks demand a Constitutional Convention to straighten out the mess that we wallow in?

Posted by linymo at 08:04 AM : Sep 03, 2008

If we have a Constitutional convention, we will have to make sure GWB doesn''t attend. He seems to think the Constitution is just a G---Dam--d piece of paper!!

[whiskyrokr]

The cops should have put about 100 holes in this nutbag.

[tootall10142]

Now you know why i carry my weapon every where i go!

[ariess63]

First of all yes every person is responsible for their own actions.Just to let you know I am one of "them". Kuroshio you are wrong to say that MOST of the mentally ill people don''t want treatment. MOST of us do. Of course part of the reason people don''t seek help is because of the stigma attached to the illness. Just in this forum MI people were described as being kooks wingnuts broken defective wacko and morons. And lets not forget we should be gotten rid of. BUT we get help anyway. Having an MI is no walk in the park. It is actually quite painful and overwhelming. And I''m not talking of just the illness itself. Have you seen all the paperwork you have to fill out just to see a doctor in the first place? Not to mention the amount of time you spend on hold just trying to find help. And if you are lucky you can see someone in about 2 months. Now I''m not a big gun lover, but I don''t like the idea of having any of my rights taken away from me any more than you would. I am not a criminal. But because I have a MI it is assumed that I will commit a crime in the future. I can think of some other groups of people that should be considered more of a threat. Should I be allowed to vote? Perhaps I should not be able to drive. If I was listed as MI on a background check how easy do you think it would be for me to get a job or rent an apartment? So I repeat again everyone is responsible for their own actions, but should I be responsible for the actions of all the MI people of this country?

[pjsilk1]

Curtis Mayfield said it best "If theres hell below, we''re all going to go".

[mshea2000]

I live in Seattle just south of this shooting and went to college in a quiet town just north of where it occured.

It sickens me to think that at this very moment he is being fed three square meals and has access to health care and legal counsel.

I think we should torture this punk and choke him with pig sh*t.

[warmonger247]

If Your A Pregnant Teen Vote For The GOP.... Ha Ha Ha

[rosieod4prez]

"If Your (sic) A Pregnant Teen Vote For The GOP.... Ha Ha Ha - Posted by WarMonger247


I''m surprised he got "ha ha ha" spelled correctly! Obama likes''em stupid. It''s the only way he''ll get elected.

[sculler1956]

There''s absolutely nothing wrong with the Constitution that we have now. It stands as the Pinnacle of Progressive foresight. It''s the subverting of it that''s the problem.

[crystalrene1]

How can so many people put the blame on his parents? I am a good friend of The Zamoras and I must tell you, Dennise tried everything she possible could to get her Isaac help. The state would NOT commit him due to not enough "evidence" of him being a threat/harmful. He is the one that made this decision. He is the one that picked up that gun and shot those innocent people. Mrs. Zamora feels guilty enough for her son doing this.
Remember it isn''t about her, it''s Isaac Lee.

[beetlebug01]

I work in the crisis system in the county this occurred in. It''s about lack of money to pay for services. It''s about a prosecutor attempting to deny legal services, refusing to give change of venue to other counties so they can hold our patients when our facilities are full. It''s about a mental health system geared only to people in Crisis. But mainly... it''s about money and the lack of money for support for those who most desperately need it. Incidentally this man didn''t go to a gun shop... he probably got the weapons off private owners or at a gun show. They don''t do background checks here. It''s a tragedy that didn''t need to happen. It was probably seen as a criminal matter rather than a civil one by local authorities.