EVERETT — Detectives have yet to find a motive into why Robert Endrizzi fired a rifle at his rural Arlington neighbors Sunday before being killed in a shootout with police.
“We may never know,” Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Shari Ireton said Wednesday. “There is nothing cut and dried. It’s kind of a mystery.”
Endrizzi, 60, died from multiple gunshot wounds fired by law enforcement officers, the Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office said Wednesday.
The disabled Army veteran shot a neighbor and two cars that passed by his property before he was killed in the 17000 block of Jim Creek Road.
Detectives searching Endrizzi’s property have found no signs that he might have left a note explaining his actions, Ireton said.
“The evidence leads investigators to believe that dozens of shots were fired by the suspect,” Ireton said.
His death is being investigated by the Snohomish County Multiple-Agency Response Team, a task force of homicide detectives from departments around the county who probe cases involving police and deadly force.
Snohomish County Undersheriff Tom Davis said that two deputies from the sheriff’s office have been placed on paid administrative leave, which is standard procedure when there is an officer-involved shooting.
Investigators on Wednesday described the sequence of events that occurred Sunday afternoon.
Deputies were alerted in the early afternoon when a neighbor, 20, heard what sounded like gunshots while he was outside with his family. The man sent his family inside the house for safety and was struck by a bullet in the leg a few minutes later.
He went inside and called 911 around 1:30 p.m. An armored patrol car drove him to medics who were waiting in a secure area. The man was transported to Cascade Valley Hospital in Arlington where he was treated and released.
A short time later, another man and his wife were driving a station wagon when it was struck by several bullets, Ireton said. A window was shattered.
The couple drove to the Jim Creek Naval Radio Station where they reported the shooting to guards at the gate.
Around the same time, another man was driving a pickup truck in the same area and it was sprayed by bullets, Ireton said.
No one in either vehicle reported serious injuries, Ireton said.
The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team was deployed and a call went out for backup from nearby law enforcement departments. More than 100 officers from various agencies responded to the scene.
The county’s Department of Emergency Management called people living in the area around 2:30 p.m. to warn them to stay inside and away from windows.
Endrizzi shot at SWAT officers who returned fire, Ireton said.
Around 4:30 p.m., officers confirmed that Endrizzi was dead. A rifle was recovered near the body, Ireton said.
“After a very thorough search of the property, no other weapons have been recovered,” Ireton said.
As a precaution, law officers continued searching the area Sunday night for other suspects, which took several hours due to the size and terrain of the property. Around 11:30 p.m. neighbors were allowed to return home.
In interviews after the shooting, neighbors have said they didn’t know much about Endrizzi.
Endrizzi bought a blue one-story rambler in the 17000 block of Jim Creek Road in January. He divorced in 2011 and moved to Snohomish County from Kent last winter.
In 2003 court papers seeking bankruptcy protection, Endrizzi was listed as being on “permanent disability” and his wife was listed as a homemaker. The documents didn’t describe the nature of the disability.
Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446, stevick@heraldnet.com.
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