LYNNWOOD — A week after police say an Everett man fatally shot a woman and critically injured a husband and wife inside their Lynnwood home, donors have given over $115,000 to the couple.
The injured residents were listed on an online fundraiser as Julia Altulhova and Alexey Altukhov, who remained at Harborview Medical Center as of Wednesday. Their two children, 5 and 7, were staying with a family friend, according to the fundraiser, “Support Julia and Alexey’s Altukhov Family.”
Friends, neighbors and health care workers were among the more than 1,200 people offering their condolences and support to the family.
“We don’t know you, but our deepest prayers are for your family,” one wrote. “May love shine bright through the darkest hours.”
The outpouring of support comes after Gilbert “Alex” Escamilla allegedly forced his way into their home at 164th Street SW and 48th Place W last week. Escamilla had reportedly just fled the scene of another deadly shooting 25 miles north in Marysville, where police allege he “executed” a man around 4 a.m. outside an apartment complex.
At 6:50 a.m. Aug. 10, a woman inside the house north of Lynnwood called 911, reporting in broken English that a man with a gun was fighting with her husband, according to a police report. The woman sounded “panicked and out of breath,” investigators wrote.
She told the dispatcher she’d been sleeping when the man broke in, and that the intruder was a stranger, according to court documents.
First responders arrived to find Altukhov’s mother, 68, in the living room with a fatal gunshot to the head. Her identity had not been publicly released, as of Wednesday. The man killed in Marysville hadn’t been publicly identified by the Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office, either.
In adjacent bedrooms, Altulhova, 32, and Altukhov, 43, were critically wounded. The two children were uninjured. The husband and wife were rushed to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, according to police.
Altukhov was in stable condition while Altulhova remained in critical condition, Harborview spokesperson Barbara Clements said Wednesday.
Written in both English and Russian, Ruslan Atayev created the online fundraiser to help cover funeral, medical and child support bills for the family.
The fundraiser quickly surpassed its initial goal of $100,000, which was raised to $150,000.
The highest single donation was $5,000, as of Wednesday.
The suspect was arrested minutes after the shooting, when deputies chased the family’s stolen car from the scene to Norma Beach Road north of Edmonds.
Investigators came to realize Escamilla was the suspect in the other shooting three hours earlier in the parking lot of Twin Lakes Landing, in the 2800 block of 164th Street NE.
Around 4 a.m., security footage showed a man, later identified as Escamilla, in a confrontation with another man. The video showed a flash from the muzzle of the gun, causing the man to fall to the ground, according to a detective’s report.
Seconds later, the gunman walked up to him, reportedly pointing the pistol at the man’s head before pulling the trigger. The shooter fled in a Hyundai, apparently bound for Lynnwood.
Everett District Court Judge Tam Bui set bail for Escamilla at $5 million. On Wednesday, he remained in the Snohomish County Jail.
Maya Tizon: 425-339-3434; maya.tizon@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @mayatizon.
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