Group to seek ways to remember victims of Mukilteo shootings

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, August 23, 2016

MUKILTEO — Mayor Jennifer Gregerson is asking for volunteers to serve on the Mukilteo Strong Alliance, a group to help the community after the July shootings at a house party that killed three young adults and injured another.

The group is expected to have its first meeting in mid-September “for anyone who wants to be involved,” Gregerson said. Group members could belong to service and volunteer organizations, resource groups, faith groups, people connected with the schools, as well as the victims’ families, she said.

The group is expected to discuss topics such as whether to build a permanent memorial in the city, she said. One place a memorial could be built is in Harbour Pointe Village Park. “I think people like the idea of a permanent memorial that focuses on peace, hope and recovery,” Gregerson said.

Jacob Long, Jordan Ebner and Anna Bui, all 19, were killed minutes after midnight July 30. Will Kramer was shot and was hospitalized at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. He has since been discharged. All four were 2015 Kamiak High School graduates.

The Mukilteo Strong group may consider organizing additional community forums, similar to one at Rosehill Community Center on Aug. 11, Gregerson said. One of the topics may be domestic violence, she said.

Gregerson said some people have talked with her about dating and intimate-partner violence following the shooting. Allen Christopher Ivanov, who is now charged with aggravated murder, had dated Bui for about 18 months but broke up a few months before the party. Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Adam Cornell has characterized Bui’s murder as a domestic violence crime.

Gregerson said she had talked with representatives of Domestic Violence Services of Snohomish County. There is “a whole network of resources focused on supporting and helping victims, but there isn’t much done for educating primarily men and boys and preventing the abuser from hurting someone else,” she said.

Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486; salyer@heraldnet.com.

Want to help?

Anyone interested in volunteering with the Mukilteo Strong Alliance may email Mayor Jennifer Gregerson at jgregerson@mukilteowa.gov