EVERETT — Police have arrested a boyfriend and girlfriend from Mukilteo in one of the four Everett shootings that occurred in less than 24 hours this week.
Late Wednesday night, the girlfriend, 36, drove in a BMW with her boyfriend, 30, to the 3700 block of Smith Avenue. The BMW had a distinct white spot on the bumper, an Everett police detective wrote in his report.
Around midnight, the boyfriend got out of the BMW near the Everett Gospel Mission, surveillance video reportedly shows.
He walked up behind another man, who is in his 40s, and shot him in the head, the detective reported. The police report does not explain any apparent connection between the two men, or any possible motive.
The handgun then malfunctioned. It couldn’t keep firing.
The boyfriend ran toward a bystander, a man in his 30s, and pistol-whipped him, knocking him to the ground, according to the police report. The suspect tried to shoot him too, but the gun wasn’t working, the victim told police. Detectives later found a magazine spring and several unfired bullet rounds, indicating the gun malfunctioned.
One of the victims ran by the BMW screaming as the girlfriend waited, she later told police.
As he continued trying to fix his gun, the suspect then ran to the BMW, got in the passenger seat and the girlfriend drove north on Smith Avenue, investigators believe. She watched as he threw the gun away as they got on I-5 south in the HOV lanes at the Broadway entrance.
The man who was shot was taken to the hospital with serious injuries that were not considered life-threatening. He needed reconstructive surgery for his jaw. The other man’s head still hurt from being pistol-whipped, according to police.
Hours later, police pulled over the couple on Mukilteo Speedway for a traffic offense. The man’s clothing matched the gunman’s in the security footage from the shooting scene, according to police.
The regional violent crime reduction unit arrested the Everett man for investigation of first-degree assault, attempted first-degree assault and unlawful firearm possession. The girlfriend was later booked into the Snohomish County Jail for investigation of rendering criminal assistance.
The alleged shooter has some criminal history in Snohomish County. Earlier this year, he was convicted of unlawful firearm possession after a prior conviction for residential burglary.
He is also a suspect in another shooting Tuesday, the Everett detective noted in his report. It’s unclear which shooting, however. One man died and four other people were shot in four separate shootings that day. No one had been arrested in connection with the others, as of Friday afternoon.
Detectives continued to investigate Friday.
Jake Goldstein-Street: 425-339-3439; jake.goldstein-street@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @GoldsteinStreet.
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