EVERETT — A sheriff’s deputy reportedly emptied an entire rifle magazine when he shot at a 68-year-old man accused of threatening and pointing a gun at law enforcement officers last summer, according to new documents.
The deputy was one of four who used their firearms against Ferral “Walt” Jackson on July 14, 2018. The man survived gunshot wounds to his arm and leg.
Detectives with the Snohomish Multi-Agency Response Team recently finished their investigation into the confrontation at Jackson’s house near 116th Street SE, south of Everett. SMART is a county-wide task force of detectives assigned to cases in which police have used potentially fatal force. The group’s final report on the case was obtained by The Daily Herald through a public records request.
Snohomish County Prosecutor Adam Cornell reviewed the SMART detectives’ report and found no grounds to pursue charges against the deputies.
“Knowing of Mr. Jackson’s murderous statement about killing police officers, his acts of violence against his wife and faced with the threat of death to themselves … the deputies were justified in shooting at him,” he wrote in a letter Monday.
Jackson was charged in October with two counts of second-degree assault with a deadly weapon and violating a domestic violence no-contact order. He was released from jail after posting bail. A trial is scheduled for August.
He was drunk and violent the day he was shot, according to statements his wife made to authorities.
The couple had gotten into a dispute that afternoon, SMART detectives wrote. At first they gave each other the silent treatment — Jackson took a nap while she read a book — but the conflict escalated when he started drinking beer, according to statements from his wife. He told her she could keep her mouth “zipped,” dumped a container of dip and cheese on her, and splashed water on her while she was in the bathtub.
A little before 10 p.m., she called 911. She said her husband had assaulted her and that he was armed. During the call, he allegedly pointed a rifle at her and said he was “gonna take a couple of cops out” if they came to the house. When she went outside, she could hear him throwing and breaking things.
Jackson was inside the garage when deputies arrived. They told investigators that they could hear a bolt being cycled on a rifle.
Jackson came outside holding up a handgun, the deputies said. They told him to put it down.
He didn’t. Instead, he pointed it at them, according to the SMART report.
A deputy armed with a rifle shot 20 rounds at Jackson, while another with a handgun fired eight, documents say. Two other deputies, thinking they saw a flash from Jackson shooting at law enforcement, also fired their guns.
Jackson retreated to the house. He was arrested 15 minutes later and taken to Providence Regional Medical Center Everett with gunshot wounds. Jackson told detectives that he had the revolver in his waistband the whole time, and that he never pointed a gun at deputies.
Detectives found a fully loaded .44 Magnum revolver in the driveway. Several more guns were inside the house, including two rifles that were loaded and easily accessible.
Detectives counted 24 bullet strikes in the area. One bullet had apparently gone through the bathroom wall of a neighboring house.
Zachariah Bryan: 425-339-3431; zbryan@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @zachariahtb.
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