EVERETT — The suspected gunman who set off a nearly 10-hour standoff with police Wednesday suffered apparent gunshot wounds, investigators said Friday.
Two days after the standoff, the Skagit-Island County Multiple Agency Response Team released the first official account of what happened after a man and police exchanged shots outside a home east of Paine Field. The team of detectives, known as SMART, is brought in to investigate police use of force.
The suspect, 24, was getting surgery on his left hand Thursday, a family member said. It was unclear if the wounds were self-inflicted or from the exchange with deputies, SMART spokesperson Mike Lumpkin, a Burlington police detective, wrote in a press release.
Detectives confirmed Friday the suspect was removed from his home late Wednesday night and taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle for his injuries.
Around 12:15 p.m. Wednesday, the suspect’s father, Christian Reyes, received a picture from his son’s mother showing a bullet hole in the downstairs ceiling of her home in the 11100 block of Paine Field Way. The suspect had fired the gun twice.
The mother told Reyes she was calling the cops to report her son — a decision the father opposed, he said.
Officers arrived at the home about 10 minutes later, Lumpkin wrote Friday morning. As they arrived, officers reported hearing more shots in the home. No one else was inside.
The gunman stepped out the front door and fired at least one round at officers, according to SMART. Two Snohomish County sheriff’s deputies returned fire, and the man retreated into the home, according to SMART. No officers were injured.
One witness shared video with The Herald, showing an armed man in a gray hoodie just outside the south Everett home. The gunman turned to the camera and fired a single gunshot at a window where the witness was filming. Nobody was hit.
Authorities asked neighbors to shelter in place or evacuate.
Over the hours that followed, officers searched the home with drones and pumped the house full of pepper spray-like irritants, according to emergency radio traffic. But they struggled to find the man. The standoff wore on into the night.
Around 11:30 p.m., officers took the suspect from his home, Lumpkin wrote. He had not been booked into Snohomish County Jail, according to jail logs.
Independent investigators like SMART have to fill several requirements, including assigning a family liaison and other representatives, before releasing information to the public. Lumpkin attributed the delay in releasing information to these requirements.
On Friday, Reyes said the home was still filled with teargas.
Meanwhile, detectives continued to investigate the incident.
Maya Tizon: 425-339-3434; maya.tizon@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @mayatizon.
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