EVERETT — Once he was in the back of the patrol car, Steven Koropp allegedly explained that the voices in his head told him the man at the bus station was going to “kill little white girls.”
Minutes earlier, Koropp, 25, reportedly attacked a stranger waiting for a bus at the Everett Transit Center. A witness said Koropp repeatedly stabbed the man in the neck.
The victim tried to run away but Koropp jumped on his back and continued the assault, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Edirin Okoloko wrote in court papers.
The victim was able to escape, yelling for help. He encountered a Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy who is assigned to patrol the transit center. The deputy applied pressure to the man’s wounds and called for aid. The man underwent emergency surgery. He is expected to survive.
Prosecutors recently charged Koropp with attempted second-degree murder for the Jan. 31 stabbing. He is being held on $1 million bail.
An officer reportedly heard Koropp say he wanted to kill the man. The defendant allegedly told police he believed the victim, a black man, was going to kidnap young white women at the bus station. Koropp made multiple comments about his disdain for African-Americans, according to court papers.
Everett police detective Andrew Williams reported that while Koropp was in an interview room at the police station he carried on a conversation with himself.
“The defendant appeared to take on different personalities which appeared to argue with each other,” Okoloko wrote.
Before the interview started, Koropp allegedly said, “I’m not violent with white.” Koropp allegedly told the detective that he was glad he stabbed the man. He said the man needed to die, according to court papers.
A mental health evaluation determined that Koropp is too ill to assist his defense attorney. He was ordered to undergo treatment at the state’s mental health hospital. His case is on hold while he’s undergoing competency restoration treatment.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com.
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