Man pleads not guilty in Arlington shooting

EVERETT — Robert Eugene Peterson allegedly told his victim that he’d used a .44-caliber handgun to shoot him.

Snohomish County sheriff’s detectives later located a .44-caliber revolver wrapped in a white paper towel under a wood pile next to a fire pit on some property off Burn Road in Arlin

gton. There were three spent casings and two live bullets in the gun.

Prosecutors on Friday charged Peterson, 44, with first-degree assault with a firearm. He is accused of opening fire Aug. 7 on a man who lives in a camper on the property. The shooting victim remains at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

Doctors found three through-and-through gunshot wounds in the man’s groin and stomach areas. The bullets damaged the man’s bladder, liver and right kidney. He also suffered respiratory complications after surgery, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Laura Twitchell wrote in court papers.

The victim, Peterson and two other men were gathered around a patio table when the evening turned violent. Alcohol and insults may have fueled an argument that sent Peterson reaching for a gun.

The victim told authorities that Peterson flipped out.

Deputies were summoned to the man’s camper several hours later when he finally decided to call for help. Police had to kick in the locked door. They found the man curled up in a fetal position, bleeding.

While he was being treated by paramedics, deputies spotted Peterson walking around the property. He disappeared into the tree line. A police dog tracked Peterson down and he was arrested.

Peterson on Monday pleaded not guilty to the assault charge. He is being held in the Snohomish County Jail on $250,000 bail.

Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com.