Mountlake Terrace man shoots alleged intruder, police say

MOUNTLAKE TERRACE — A Mountlake Terrace man shot an intruder who was climbing through a bedroom window at his home early Wednesday morning, according to police.

The intruder was in critical condition and underwent surgery at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, Mountlake Terrace Police Chief Greg Wilson said. Detectives have not determined his identity. They believe he is in his mid-twenties.

The homeowner, 57, is cooperating with the investigation, Wilson said.

The incident started late Tuesday evening. A 19-year-old woman who is a distant relative of the homeowner showed up at the door with a male friend, Wilson said. The homeowner had never seen the friend before.

The pair asked to stay at the house, and the homeowner declined. The couple said they were leaving, but the woman returned just before 12:30 a.m., apparently alone, and was talking to the homeowner again.

Detectives believe her friend, who was dressed in black, went around to a back bedroom and began wriggling through a window. The homeowner found him “about three quarters of the way in the window,” Wilson said.

The homeowner fired a pistol, and the intruder was hit in the upper torso.

“When officers arrived on scene, they found the male lying in the street and immediately performed CPR until medics arrived,” Wilson said.

The man’s pulse came back during the life-saving efforts, the chief said.

The officers “did a phenomenal job,” he said.

Detectives believe the uninvited guests had planned to rob the homeowner. The intruder was armed with what the chief described as a crochet needle, which “he was planning on using to force the resident to turn over property.”

The woman was located later in the morning in north Seattle. The pair had been traveling in a Chevrolet sport utility vehicle. The vehicle was found and was determined to be stolen.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the woman was being interviewed and had not been placed under arrest.

Detectives also were working on obtaining a judge’s permission to search the SUV.

Investigators had not been able to question the man in the hospital, Wilson said.

Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @rikkiking.