Langus Riverfront Park in Everett stretches along the Snohomish River just west of I-5 (left). This view is looking south. (Chuck Taylor / The Herald)

Langus Riverfront Park in Everett stretches along the Snohomish River just west of I-5 (left). This view is looking south. (Chuck Taylor / The Herald)

Police arrest 2 men in fatal shooting at Langus park

Allegedly, they fled the scene of a planned drug deal. Detectives were still looking for a third suspect.

EVERETT — Everett police have arrested two people in connection with a fatal shooting last week at Langus Riverfront Park.

A 29-year-old man, who police believe was the shooter, and a 42-year-old man were booked into the Snohomish County Jail this weekend for investigation of first-degree murder. A third man, 26, was still at large as of Saturday night, according to a news release.

James R. Scannell, 56, of Everett, was shot to death while he was still inside his vehicle at the park on Aug. 31 around 3:15 p.m. First responders tried life-saving measures, but they were unsuccessful, Everett officer Aaron Snell said last week. The Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed Scannell died of a gunshot wound and determined his death was a homicide.

Langus Riverfront Park sits alongside the Snohomish River and is popular among boaters, rowers and walkers.

According to the Everett police news release, witnesses told detectives that two men ran from the vehicle and left in a red Ford Escape. Surveillance video from a nearby business showed the Ford’s license plate as it drove by. That same evening, a private tow company impounded the Ford from a nearby apartment complex for unrelated reasons.

Detectives obtained a judge’s permission to search the Ford and found evidence that led them to a woman who told detectives she had been with her roommate and another man on Aug. 31 when they met up with a third man. They left her at a casino, and the three men drove to Everett, she reported.

The roommate, 42, allegedly admitted driving the other two to Langus Riverfront Park in the Ford. They were going to buy drugs, he reported.

On the way, the other two concocted a plan to use fake cash and rob the seller, according to the man’s account. He told detectives he stayed in the Ford while the others met with the seller. Then he heard a gunshot.

The roommate allegedly admitted that he drove the two away from the park and hid the Ford at a nearby apartment complex — the one where the tow company later impounded the vehicle.

The 42-year-old was arrested Saturday afternoon.

In the evening, sheriff’s deputies with Island and Snohomish counties engaged in the pursuit of a vehicle driven by the 29-year-old man who was believed to be the shooter. They arrested him. That suspect has a long rap sheet in Snohomish County, with several convictions for drug-related crimes.

A Snohomish County deputy’s patrol vehicle was damaged when the deputy driving it attempted a PIT maneuver, the Everett police news release said.

Police were still looking for the third man.

Zachariah Bryan: 425-339-3431; zbryan@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @zachariahtb.

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