Charge: Man said, ‘Come on, pig,’ before killing Bothell cop

SEATTLE — A man accused of killing a Bothell police officer and wounding another shouted, “Come on, pig,” as he raised a pistol and opened fire, according to documents filed in court Wednesday.

Henry Eugene Washington, 37, also called a police department in Junction City, Kansas, and admitted to the killing while hiding out from police on a roof near the scene of the homicide, a Snohomish County sheriff’s detective wrote in the court papers.

A King County judge found probable cause Wednesday to hold the defendant in jail with no possibility of bail, pending charges of first-degree murder, first-degree assault, vehicular assault and attempting to elude police.

A defense attorney declined to argue about bail or the allegations Wednesday.

According to the detective’s report filed in court, officer-in-training Jonathan Shoop, 32, pulled over an eastbound Pontiac G6 with no license plate around 9:40 p.m. Monday on Highway 522. Shoop approached the driver’s side of the car, and the driver sped off, striking a 20-year-old man on a scooter in a crosswalk, leaving him with a broken femur and other injuries.

A witness recorded a Black man, identified as Washington, walking “in a hurried manner” to the front of the police car before firing at least two shots, according to the court papers. A series of quieter shots followed, believed to be an officer returning fire. Another unnamed witness, with a wider view of the incident, reportedly recounted hearing Washington saying, “Come on, pig,” at least twice before opening fire.

The witness told police the shooter, in a gray tanktop, then ran north from the scene, as the police car rolled into the Pontiac and kept rolling until it came to a rest against a tree.

The gunfire killed officer Shoop, who was driving, and wounded his field training officer in the passenger seat. Both officers suffered gunshot wounds to the head. The training officer had a graze wound, and was released from Harborview Medical Center within hours.

The man on the scooter, 20, was also expected to survive.

Meanwhile, police swarmed into Bothell from all around King and Snohomish counties.

Around 3:40 a.m. Tuesday, officers found Washington, who had been hiding out for hours on the roof of a nearby business. He fell while trying to climb between two buildings, became trapped and surrendered, according to police. Police said they found a handgun in Washington’s pants.

In the meantime, the Junction City Police Department received a call from someone who identified himself as Henry Washington in Washington state. According to a recording of the call, Washington admitted to “running over ‘babies’” and shooting a Bothell police officer “in self-defense.” The suspect confirmed he had made that phone call, and that he was acting in defense of himself, as well as police taking his vehicle, marijuana and gun.

Washington was being held in the King County Jail. He did not show up to a jail courtroom Wednesday, because he’d been found “medically unavailable.”

Shoop served in the U.S. Coast Guard before joining the Bothell department in 2019.

The city mourned Shoop with a memorial outside city hall. He’s the only Bothell police officer ever killed in the line of duty. People covered a patrol car in flowers, flags, balloons and messages of thanks to Shoop and his family.

Shoop was “an all around good caring dude,” with a dry, wicked sense of humor, Bothell Capt. Mike Johnson said Wednesday.

“He left his tech job to come to this job, in order to have an outlet to give back to the community,” he said. “I mean, he was dedicated. He served this community with compassion and empathy. He treated people the way you would want to be treated by the police.”

The Snohomish County Multiple Agency Response Team, a cadre of detectives who investigate police use of force, will continue to gather information about the confrontation, though the the crash, shooting and arrest all happened about a mile south of the King-Snohomish county line.

Court records and social media postings show Washington has lived in Texas, Arizona and Kansas.

His criminal record includes convictions for stalking in 2012, attempting to elude police in 2013, making a criminal threat in 2015, and assaulting a law enforcement officer as recently as 2017. Detectives have not said how or why he ended up in the Seattle area. A police report listed his address as “homeless,” with a driver’s license out of Texas.

A woman identified as Washington’s mother reportedly told the Seattle TV station KOMO that her son “has mental health issues.” (She did not immediately respond to a Herald reporter’s message Wednesday.)

On his Facebook page, Washington had posted what appeared to be a selfie — though the gun-wielding man in the photo is wearing a kind of ski mask, a headlamp, ear protection and gloves — framed with the slogan, “Black Lives Matter,” on July 3.

Far-right media personalities immediately labeled Washington an “activist” in that movement, but offered no specific information about what kind of activism he’d taken part in or when and where he did so. The prominent image was the only apparent reference to Black Lives Matter on his public page. Washington had also shared pictures of himself holding a machete beside another Black man pointing a gun at the camera; a hand fanning out a thick wad of $20 bills; bags full of cannabis and “perks” (slang for the painkiller Percocet); and a selfie where he’s holding a pistol in a bathroom mirror.

His posts suggest he worked as a certified road flagger in Arizona, as recently as January. Then he posted a picture of CenturyLink Field in Seattle on April 7, with no caption or explanation.

Herald reporter Zachariah Bryan contributed to this report.

Caleb Hutton: 425-339-3454; chutton@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @snocaleb.