Man held for attempted murder in Sultan shooting

EVERETT — When sheriff’s deputies stopped the suspect in a Sultan shooting, they found a shotgun in the passenger seat, a black and white dog in the backseat and beer cans littering the Lincoln.

Paul Hackney, 70, was arrested Friday night and booked into the Snohomish County Jail for investigation of attempted first-degree murder. He declined to speak with deputies. The man he reportedly shot at told police Hackney may have opened fire over a woman.

Hackney, a retired crane operator, allegedly was intoxicated at the time of the shooting. Along with Coors beer cans, deputies also found cans of Mike’s Hard Mango Punch in the car, according to a police affidavit.

Hackney made a brief court appearance Monday in Everett District Court. His attorney asked the judge to lower bail from $500,000 to $50,000, saying Hackney isn’t a danger to flee and doesn’t have any prior felony convictions.

The defense attorney called the incident an “aberration exacerbated by alcohol.”

District Court Judge Tam Bui agreed to reduce Hackney’s bail to $50,000. She banned the Monroe-area man from having any firearms. He also is prohibited from contacting the victim.

Deputies were summoned Friday night to an address on Mann Road in Sultan. The caller told police he’d crawled out of his pickup and hid in a pasture after Hackney shot at him. The man was not seriously injured.

He said he was headed home when he saw a car pull into his driveway. He stopped behind the car and recognized Hackney. He asked the older man how he was doing. “Real (expletive) fine,” Hackney reportedly responded.

The man, 54, sent his girlfriend a text message, warning her that Hackney was drunk and told her to lock the doors. The man sat in his pickup, waiting for Hackney to leave. Instead, he said Hackney got out of his car and began yelling.

He said then he heard and felt a shot come through the windshield. Glass fragments flew at him. Hackney was still yelling. The Sultan man told police he crawled out of the pickup, ran into a pasture and called 911. The shot that hit the windshield was inches from where the man was sitting, police reported.

Deputies were told that Hackney was headed toward Monroe. Police caught up with him at U.S. 2 and 311 Avenue SE. He was arrested at gunpoint.

Police searched his car and found a shotgun on the passenger seat. They found a shotgun shell in the driver’s seat. There was a rifle in the trunk. Hackney refused to tell police his address or phone number. “‘I am not saying anything period,’” Hackney was quoted saying in the police affidavit.

The victim told police that Hackney knows his girlfriend through her family. He said he thinks Hackney wants a relationship with her.

Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

The view of Mountain Loop Mine out the window of a second floor classroom at Fairmount Elementary on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County: Everett mining yard violated order to halt work next to school

At least 10 reports accused OMA Construction of violating a stop-work order next to Fairmount Elementary. A judge will hear the case.

Imagine Children's Museum's incoming CEO, Elizabeth "Elee" Wood. (Photo provided by Imagine Children's Museum)
Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett will welcome new CEO in June

Nancy Johnson, who has led Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett for 25 years, will retire in June.

Kelli Littlejohn, who was 11 when her older sister Melissa Lee was murdered, speaks to a group of investigators and deputies to thank them for bringing closure to her family after over 30 years on Thursday, March 28, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘She can rest in peace’: Jury convicts Bothell man in 1993 killing

Even after police arrested Alan Dean in 2020, it was unclear if he would stand trial. He was convicted Thursday in the murder of Melissa Lee, 15.

Ariel Garcia, 4, was last seen Wednesday morning in an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Dr. (Photo provided by Everett Police)
Everett police searching for missing child, 4

Ariel Garcia was last seen Wednesday at an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Drive. The child was missing under “suspicious circumstances.”

The rezoned property, seen here from the Hillside Vista luxury development, is surrounded on two sides by modern neighborhoods Monday, March 25, 2024, in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Despite petition, Lake Stevens OKs rezone for new 96-home development

The change faced resistance from some residents, who worried about the effects of more density in the neighborhood.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.