A man who tried to lose police by bursting into a crowded classroom Thursday with a loaded gun was being held on $250,000 bail Friday after he made an appearance in Everett District Court.
James John Hansen III, 33, of Brier was being held for attempting to elude police and for being a felon in possession of a firearm.
A Mountlake Terrace police officer tackled him in a classroom at Mountlake Terrace Elementary School and used pepper spray to subdue him. Police found a loaded semiautomatic pistol in his waistband, and there was a bullet in the chamber.
Defense attorney Michael Magee said Hansen had just dropped off his daughter at the school, and it’s not the suspect’s fault the officer used pepper spray that required nine students to be treated at a hospital.
Magee asked Judge Pro Tem David Mitchell to release Hansen on his personal recognizance. Mitchell sided with deputy prosecutor Mara Rozzano, who asked for $250,000 bail.
According to court documents, an officer was watching the traffic flow through the school zone at about 8:30 a.m. When Hansen drove by, he checked his car’s license and discovered there were arrest warrants out for him.
Hansen drove onto the school grounds, apparently dropped off his daughter, and then left. The officer turned on his emergency lights and tried to stop Hansen’s van. The van doubled back into the school area and drove across a sidewalk separating the parking lot and the bus turnaround area, documents say.
Hansen then ran into the school, with the officer in pursuit, documents say. Hansen resisted arrest, struggled and the officer used "a very short burst of pepper spray" to control him, according to the documents.
Hansen reportedly has six prior felony convictions.
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