3-hour standoff with police in Mukilteo ends peacefully

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, March 22, 2017

MUKILTEO — A Kirkland woman reportedly pointed an Old West-style revolver at a police sergeant before barricading herself in a Mukilteo house Monday.

Police were notified at 2:48 p.m. of a disoriented woman wandering along Hartford Way, according to a probable cause affidavit released Tuesday.

When an officer tried to speak with the woman, 37, she disappeared into a nearby home. Police reached out to the homeowner.

He told officers the woman was a family friend. The homeowner had recently driven to Oregon to pick up the woman, who was in jail, according to court papers. She came back to Mukilteo for a court date in a different case.

The homeowner also told police the woman is living with bipolar disorder and doesn’t take her medication as prescribed. He said there were firearms in the house.

The police sergeant could see the woman from his position at the doorway. She reportedly was at the top of the stairs shining a flashlight at him. When he asked her to put down the light, she allegedly pointed an “older, almost antique gun” at him, according to the affidavit. Aiming a gun at someone can be considered an assault under state law.

Police later spotted the woman in an upstairs window. It appeared she had barricaded herself in a room. A SWAT team was called.

Over the course of three hours, the woman dropped guns from a window. At least four of them were Old West-style revolvers, police said.

At one point, an officer saw the woman carrying an item in a bag and she claimed it was a bomb, according to court documents.

The standoff ended peacefully around 5:50 p.m. The woman was booked into the Snohomish County Jail for investigation of first-degree assault against the officer.

“The quick thinking and restraint of the responding officers were lifesaving,” Mukilteo Police Chief Cheol Kang said in a press release. “I appreciate the skillful efforts of our law enforcement partners which resulted in a safe resolution to this incident.”

Caitlin Tompkins: 425-339-3192; ctompkins@heraldnet.com