LAKE STEVENS — A man accused of shooting his roommate to death this week in Lake Stevens has been identified as a longtime corrections officer at the Monroe prison.
Emmanuel Perez, 44, has worked at the prison for about 14 years, his attorney said in court Tuesday. Civil court records confirm Perez was employed as a corrections officer as early as 2008.
Perez was arrested Monday after he reportedly ran from the scene of a shooting at the Colonial Gardens apartments in the 1700 block of Main Street.
Perez and a roommate, 35, were fighting in an apartment around 9 a.m. Monday, according to a report written by Lake Stevens detective Steve Warbis. Witnesses heard gunshots. Perez came out of the apartment and walked toward a blue Chevrolet in the parking lot.
The other man, wearing only a bathrobe, followed him outside.
“How could you do this to me?” the man reportedly asked Perez.
Witnesses later told police that Perez went around the front of the Chevrolet and fired about three shots at the roommate.
The man fell to the ground. He died at the scene. The Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office had not confirmed his name as of Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the shooter fled. Callers reported seeing a man — in a plaid coat, with a black-and-silver handgun — running a block north of the shooting scene, near the Buzz Inn Steakhouse.
Lake Stevens police arrested Perez. The suspect reportedly told officers he had a gun on him, but wasn’t sure which pocket it was in.
Officers found a black-and-silver .40-caliber pistol in one of Perez’s pockets, along with “drugs and drug paraphernalia,” the detective wrote.
In court, a deputy prosecutor said he’s accused of having methamphetamine on him.
He declined to speak with detectives at the Lake Stevens police station.
A state Department of Corrections spokesperson said she could not provide further details about Perez’s employment history Tuesday, but she planned to in the near future.
Perez was booked into the Snohomish County Jail for investigation of domestic violence murder in the second degree.
Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Elise Deschenes asked for bail to be set at $1 million. Defense attorney John Chase asked for Perez to be released on a promise to show up to his next court hearing.
Perez has two DUI convictions on his record — from 2000 and 2014, his attorney said, adding that he has no prior felony convictions.
The defendant is a father of four and a military veteran, Chase added.
“He has very strong ties to this community, but not a lot of money,” Chase said.
Everett District Court Judge Tam Bui set bail Tuesday at $500,000.
Ellen Dennis: 425-339-3486; edennis@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @reporterellen
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