MARYSVILLE — A man allegedly pointed a shotgun at his wife’s face before barricading himself inside their home with their three children on Sunday night.
Just a few hours before, the family was sitting down to eat dinner. The man, 33, had about 10 beers beforehand, according to his wife. He reportedly started getting upset because his son was eating with his hands.
His wife said she tried to intervene, but that only made him angrier.
Later, after she put the children to bed, he pointed a shotgun at her from about a foot away in the living room, according to a police report. He told her to go to bed.
Not knowing what else to do, she went to the bedroom. She said she stood there with a phone in her hand, “frozen.”
Then the man entered the bedroom and pointed the shotgun at her again, court papers say.
“I have been waiting for this,” he told her, according to documents. “This is it. Either I kill you then kill myself, or you call the cops and I’ll just kill myself.”
He gave her 10 minutes to decide. She went into the bathroom and called the police.
Marysville officers arrived around 7 p.m. At first, the suspect was uncooperative. The negotiator heard what sounded like a gun cock before the phone hung up, according to the report.
The woman went outside through the garage to meet with police, but the children were still inside.
Police arrested the man around 10:30 p.m.
The woman told police that her husband was diagnosed with bipolar disorder while he was in the military in 2012.
He’s had more angry outbursts recently, she said. About two weeks ago, he threw a shoe and broke a window. Another time, he tried attacking his father-in-law.
After breaking the window, the woman said her husband started upping his mental health prescription through his doctor.
The suspect was booked into the Snohomish County Jail under investigation of first-degree assault.
Zachariah Bryan: 425-339-3431; zbryan@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @zachariahtb.
To get help
For more information about resources available to those living with mental illness and their families, go to the Snohomish County chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness at www.namisnohomishcounty.org.
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