EVERETT — A Lake Stevens man who shot out a window at Everett Community College in April is banned from the campus for 10 years.
A judge on Monday also sentenced Tony Carter to 2½ years in prison for illegal possession of a .40-caliber Smith and Wesson. Carter has a 2008 conviction for first-degree robbery and is prohibited from having any firearms.
Carter told Snohomish County Superior Court Judge George Appel that he was high on methamphetamine and wasn’t targeting anyone when he fired a handgun on campus on April 4.
The shooting happened on a Saturday morning. The campus was fairly empty but people were in Jackson Hall setting up for Pink Prom, a gay and lesbian dance, scheduled for later in the evening.
A campus security officer heard the gunshot and spotted a man with a pistol in hand running off campus. The security officer checked surveillance video and saw Carter, 25, in and around the bushes near Jackson Hall. Everett police found Carter a short distance away. He didn’t have the gun on him.
The next day an Everett police officer used a metal detector to locate the loaded handgun buried under a rotting two-by-four on the east side of Shuksan Hall.
Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Matt Hunter urged the judge to sentence Carter to nearly three years in prison, the maximum under state law.
The gunfire created fear and concern in the community and on campus, especially given the deadly shootings in October at Marysville Pilchuck High School, Hunter said.
“I’m not sure Mr. Carter understands the impact this had on people,” he said.
Carter told the judge that the gun went off accidentally. He wouldn’t have been on campus if he wasn’t abusing drugs, Carter said.
“I think you may have some understanding why society thinks you’re a menace,” Appel said. “You certainly could have killed someone.”
Appel said Carter has a choice to make — get clean and be a good father and husband or keep using and end up back in prison or dead.
“You have two little children. Give them something to look up to,” Appel said.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @dianahefley.
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