EVERETT — Police investigating a drive-by shooting in south Everett unearthed two loaded handguns near the playground at Olivia Park Elementary School.
One of the guns is believed to have been used in a Feb. 6 drive-by shooting at a house near 107 Place W. Five people were home at the time, including two children. No one was injured despite multiple rounds hitting the house.
Bullets struck the garage door, a large front window, and siding near the front door. A man had been lying on a couch in front of the damaged window at the time. He rolled onto the floor and yelled for others in the house to duck.
Investigators were told the shooter targeted the house because he believed his girlfriend was being held or had been held there against her will. She was not.
Detectives are investigating whether the handgun was used in another drive-by shooting within Everett city limits.
Police started using metal detectors at area schools to locate the guns after hearing from multiple sources that Marco Martinez and Fericit Varga hid the weapons near an elementary after the Feb. 6 drive-by shooting.
The firearms were unearthed barely below the surface of the soil March 14 near the playground, Snohomish County sheriff’s detective Kendra Conley wrote in a police affidavit filed Monday.
“The guns were located during a school day, during school hours when the school was occupied with children,” she wrote.
Both were loaded. The .45-caliber gun had a live round in the chamber and the safety was off. The second firearm, a 9mm, didn’t have a round in the chamber but the magazine was full, according to court papers. It was reported stolen. The other gun had been purchased about a month before the shooting.
The guns were sent to the Washington State Patrol crime lab for examination.
Martinez, 19, made a brief appearance Monday in Everett District Court. He was being held on $50,000 bail for investigation of first-degree assault and drive-by shooting. He is believed to be the shooter. He was already being held in connection with an Everett police investigation.
He and his girlfriend were caught up late last month in an operation meant to crackdown on gang activity in Everett. There have been 19 shootings in the city since the beginning of December. The majority are believed to be gang related.
There was no indication in court papers that Martinez is a gang member.
Martinez and his girlfriend, 22, were believed to be associated with a garage on Oakes Avenue where Everett police officers heard stolen firearms were being stored.
A SWAT team raided the house March 22 and turned up a stolen firearm and drugs.
As part of the operation officers were conducting surveillance in the 9600 block of 19th Avenue SE. That’s where they arrested Martinez and his girlfriend. She had outstanding warrants. Martinez was driving with a suspended license, according to court records.
Officers allegedly found $1,549 in cash in his wallet, along with what appeared to be a drug ledger. Police later obtained a warrant and searched Martinez’s BMW. Inside a backpack, they found a .45-caliber pistol, stolen from Island County. They also located a 9mm pistol and a baggie of heroin, police wrote in court papers.
Everett police booked Martinez for investigation of drug trafficking and illegal gun possession. Detectives suspect he’s now connected to at least four handguns, including two stolen firearms.
Snohomish County sheriff’s detectives already had Varga, 20, in custody for the Feb. 6 shooting. Detectives believe he crashed his vehicle a short distance from the victims’ home.
Neighbors reported that Varga knocked on their door and asked for help moving his car about 10 minutes before sheriff’s deputies were called to the shooting. The car was stuck in the slush and snow. Varga declined the neighbors’ offers to call 911 and walked away.
Investigators suspect that Martinez, Varga and a possible third suspect ran from the car and buried the guns.
Varga returned to the car as deputies were canvassing the neighborhood. He admitted the car was his and no one else had been driving it. The Buick matched the description of the car captured on the victim’s home surveillance camera. A muzzle flash was seen coming from the car.
Varga was arrested when deputies found brass knuckles in his pocket. Deputies reportedly recovered multiple .45-caliber shell casings in his backpack, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Jarett Goodkin wrote in charging papers.
Varga denied shooting at the house. He couldn’t explain why he had shell casings.
A deputy asked Varga if “the gun was in a safe spot so a kid doesn’t find it.”
He allegedly replied, “Ya, it’s in a safe spot, man.”
The deputy asked him where the gun was and Varga said he didn’t know anything about a firearm.
Through recorded jailhouse phone conversations investigators learned that Varga is best friends with Martinez, who also goes by “Blazed.”
Varga allegedly told his girlfriend “it,” is at an elementary school near the “playground.” Detectives believe he was talking about the gun.
He also said, “I’m taking the fall for him.”
Investigators also heard from informants that Martinez fired the shots from the back seat and the gun had been hidden at an elementary school. Olivia Park is on the same street and a short distance from where Varga allegedly crashed the car after the shooting, Conley wrote.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com.
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