MARYSVILLE – No charges are justified against two police officers who fatally shot a despondent Marysville man Feb. 9 after he pointed a loaded assault rifle in their direction, Mark Roe, Snohomish County’s chief criminal deputy prosecutor, said Friday.
The Marysville police officers who shot Kirk Mills, 38, “had no choice but to act as they did, and shoot when they did,” Roe said.
“Any loss of life is horrible,” Roe said in a letter sent Friday to a team of detectives who investigated the shooting. “It appears from the facts and investigation that Mr. Mills wanted the police to shoot him, and Mr. Mills’ relatives believe that may well have been his motivation. Still, the incident is tragic for everyone involved.”
Police went to Mills home after a neighbor reported seeing him outside pointing an assault rifle to his head. Officers spent five hours attempting to resolve the incident without bloodshed.
Two officers shot “almost simultaneously” when Mills came out of the home and fired the rifle into a wall, then began “sweeping” the weapon toward them, Roe wrote.
The shooting was a justifiable act to protect people from a weapon loaded with ammunition that detectives later determined could have sent bullets traveling two miles, Roe said. The standoff occurred in a neighborhood not far from Marysville Junior High School, which was in lockdown during the incident.
It was the second time in three weeks officers had been to Mills’ home and discovered him armed and threatening suicide. He was taken to an area hospital for a mental health evaluation after a Jan. 20 incident that ended when police were able to calm him down enough to seize the gun, police and family members said earlier.
No charges are appropriate in the February death because officers were acting within the scope of their duties, Roe said.
Reporter Scott North: 425-339-3431 or north@heraldnet.com.
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