EVERETT — An Arlington man is in hot water after allegedly sneaking onto a campsite in camouflage clothing and threatening several people with a military-style AR-15 rifle.
The incident occurred during Memorial Day weekend off the Mountain Loop Highway, according to a police report.
The man, 20, confronted the group around 3 a.m., according to a police report. A witness told a Snohomish County deputy that one of the campers was the man’s wife and the couple was getting a divorce.
One camper said the suspect held the weapon to his shoulder and his finger on the trigger while pointing it at her head.
Another camper said that he feared the suspect “was going to kill everyone at the campsite with how angry he appeared while pointing the rifle at everyone.”
At one point the suspect reportedly pointed the rifle away and two of the campers were able to get it away from him. They handed it over to another camper who took it apart, walked into the woods and threw the pieces as far as he could. Most of the ammunition also was tossed into the river.
Before he was disarmed, witnesses also said the man turned the barrel of the rifle under his own chin and acted as though he were going to shoot himself.
One camper turned over to deputies a bullet she said she kept from the incident.
Several police officers went to the man’s Arlington-area home on Thursday. He was arrested for investigation of four counts of assault and booked into the Snohomish County Jail.
Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446, stevick@heraldnet.com
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