MARYSVILLE — Jeffrey Sims, 37, reportedly was talking about killing himself in the hours leading up to the moment police shot him at his Marysville house Sept. 18.
The next day, a judge granted investigators permission to search the property. The Daily Herald recently obtained a copy of the search warrant, which sheds light on the events surrounding the death.
Much of the information in the documents is attributed to Sims’ wife, who made the initial 911 call.
Sims’ wife said he was possibly high on methamphetamine and acting erratically when she talked to him on the phone earlier in the day, court papers show. He told her he was going to park his car on a railroad track or force police to chase him, according to her statements.
When the woman got home from work, Sims was sitting on the couch, she said. They argued about whether he could stay. She had kicked him out a few weeks before, though he had returned to the house multiple times since.
On the night of the shooting, she informed the dispatcher that her husband might be combative with officers. She said that Sims allegedly was armed with a three-inch folding knife. She was trying to keep him from leaving in the family car, court papers show.
When law enforcement arrived, the husband and wife were outside in the driveway. He had what looked like a knife in his hand, and he moved as if to stab his wife, according to police.
“The officers fired at (Sims) while he was attacking her with the knife,” detectives wrote in the search warrant affidavit filed in Snohomish County Superior Court.
Sims died at the scene from multiple gunshot wounds.
The new documents don’t make clear how many officers shot their duty weapons, or which bullet was fatal. Three officers were expected to be placed on administrative leave during the investigation.
Sims’ wife had no obvious injuries, according to the reports. She told authorities there had been unreported domestic violence in the relationship.
The Snohomish County Multiple Agency Response Team investigates cases where police use fatal force. Detectives told a judge they retrieved bullet casings, bullet fragments and a folding knife from the scene, as well as other evidence. When the case report is completed, it will be forwarded to the Snohomish County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office for review.
Sims had no known criminal history in Washington.
He and his wife had four children, according to an obituary that ran in The Herald. A service was held Saturday in Everett. In remembrance, family asked for donations to the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
Zachariah Bryan: 425-339-3431; zbryan@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @zachariahtb.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
