MARYSVILLE — A Granite Falls man accused of opening fire on police in October is facing more legal troubles.
Prosecutors last year charged Hans Hansen with two counts of attempted first-degree murder and four other felonies for a rolling shootout that spanned three cities and injured Marysville police Sgt. Jim Maples. Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Ed Stemler last month tacked on additional assault and drive-by shooting charges. Hansen faces decades behind bars if he is convicted of the 11 felonies.
The 44-year-old has pleaded not guilty. His attorney, Jon Scott, told The Herald that Hansen wasn’t targeting police officers. At the time, his client was facing significant financial and health problems, Scott said.
“He was a desperate, depressed, suicidal guy,” the public defender said. “His intent, as he expressed it, was to have (police) kill him.”
Hansen has no prior criminal history.
The case was assigned to Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Ellen Fair. In a hearing this week, the judge agreed to continue the trial to October. Hansen is being held without bail.
The Snohomish County native told detectives that on Oct. 15 he loaded his pickup truck with two AK-47 rifles, an AR-15, a shotgun, a .40-caliber handgun and several other firearms. He explained that his plan was to anger as many people as he could until someone shot him.
Hansen allegedly first shot up a Granite Falls building belonging to a man whom he blamed for his business getting evicted.
Emergency dispatchers then received word that someone had shot up a police car outside the Granite Falls Police station. Rounds also hit the building. Minutes later the Lake Stevens Police station took gunfire. Patrol cars and other vehicles parked outside were struck.
Marysville police officers anticipated that their station could be targeted next. Officers began searching the east side of town for the suspect’s pickup truck. An officer saw Hansen’s vehicle in the 7000 block of 64th Street.
Hansen allegedly stopped and got out of his truck armed with a rifle. The closest officer heard gunfire and began backing up. Bullets struck his car and shattered the windshield. He slid out of the car and bullets struck the driver’s side window and broke out the side spotlight. He saw sparks at his feet from rounds striking the ground. A second officer also ran for cover. She said she felt bullets flying all around her legs and feet, Stemler wrote.
Hansen got back into his pickup and drove on. Maples was next to encounter Hansen, according to court papers. The sergeant believed Hansen had killed two officers. Maples grabbed a rifle and positioned himself behind his patrol car. He remembered bullets striking near him.
As Hansen’s truck got closer, Maples repositioned himself behind some parked cars. He felt severe pain in his lower leg and dropped to the ground. Maples felt a bullet whiz past his wrist, burning the skin. He was hit again in the leg. Officers arrived to help the sergeant and he was rushed to a hospital.
Hansen reportedly drove on and fired at more patrol cars. An officer shot at Hansen’s truck. He heard return gunfire and dove for cover. He saw the pickup drive up onto the sidewalk. Hansen tossed a rifle out, opened the door and fell to the ground.
He had been shot in the head. The bullet did not pierce his skull and he wasn’t seriously injured.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @dianahefley.
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