EVERETT — An apartment hangout where “everyone was getting along” devolved into an argument that led an Everett man to shoot his friend in the head, according to a police report filed in court Wednesday.
The friend, a man from Bothell, suffered life-threatening injuries, police wrote. He was still alive Wednesday afternoon, in serious condition, a prosecutor said in court.
On Tuesday morning, a woman called her friend, Stefan Deremer, to see what he was doing, she told police. According to a new probable cause statement, Deremer, 32, invited the woman and her boyfriend over to “have some drinks and hang out” around 8:30 a.m. at his apartment in the 10700 block of Evergreen Way.
The woman reportedly told police Deremer was drinking and “smoking blues” — slang for using fentanyl pills.
She said she and her boyfriend, 32, were seated next to each other on the couch, also drinking. The boyfriend and Deremer got to talking about a friend they have in common, according to the police report. The woman reported her boyfriend was sticking up for the friend, as Deremer called him a liar.
The woman told police at some point during the conversation, Deremer pulled out a gun. He said something along the lines of, “Well, if that is the truth, then …”
Deremer then shot his friend in the head, the woman reported.
After the shooting, Deremer asked the woman not to call 911 and told her he didn’t think the gun was loaded, she told police. The woman told Deremer she needed to leave, according to court papers. She called 911 around 9:30 a.m.
First-responders arrived and found Deremer “cradling” the wounded man in his arms, according to police reports. Deremer had blood on his clothes and body, police wrote.
The victim was transported to Providence Regional Medical Center Everett.
Hospital staff were concerned the injury was “non-survivable,” the police report reads. “However, they are still attempting to save his life at the time of this writing.”
Police recovered a gun at the scene.
The girlfriend later told police in an interview that “everyone was getting along, and she didn’t understand why Deremer did this.” She also reported she had never seen Deremer’s gun before.
Deremer was booked into the Snohomish County Jail for investigation of first-degree assault with a gun and unlawful possession of a firearm Tuesday evening. At the time of his arrest, he had a misdemeanor warrant through the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office for third-degree malicious mischief.
The Everett man appeared at a bail hearing Wednesday. Everett District Court Judge Pro Tem David Ruzumna granted the deputy prosecutor’s request and set the man’s bail at $1 million.
Deremer remained behind bars Wednesday.
Court records show in 2016, Deremer was convicted of residential burglary and taking a motor vehicle without permission. He had never been convicted of a violent felony as an adult.
Ellen Dennis: 425-339-3486; edennis@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @reporterellen.
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