EVERETT — A 27-year-old Everett man was listed in critical condition Monday evening after two gunmen broke into his home earlier in the day and shot him.
The victim was found in an alley behind his home in the 2500 block of Rucker Avenue.
Police scoured the north Everett neighborhood
looking for two men who ran from the scene.
The victim apparently was shot in the abdomen, Everett police Sgt. Robert Goetz said.
The attackers were dressed in black and carrying long-barreled firearms, most likely shotguns. They broke into the home around noon Monday by smashing a window and reaching inside to open a door, Goetz said.
“It was pretty brazen,” he said.
The shooting victim was taken to Providence Regional Medical Center Everett.
Police blocked off the 2500 block of Rucker Avenue and nearby schools were placed in precautionary lockdown. Everett High School and Immaculate Conception and Our Lady of Perpetual Help School were in lockdown for less than an hour.
The suspects ran south from the home. Officers searched for their trail using a police dog.
The shooting occurred in a beige house that had been converted into three apartments. There apparently was at least one other person in the home besides the shooting victim. No one else was injured, Goetz said.
Neighbors gathered in the street and along sidewalks while the police searched for suspects.
Gene Humphrey lives about a block away from the shooting scene. He said there have been problems with drug trafficking in the area, but those problems seem to have been on the wane in recent years.
“It’s getting too close to home,” he said of the shooting.
Katherine Howe, who also lives nearby, said she was watching TV when the shooting occurred.
“I don’t know if I heard the shot or if it came from the TV,” she said.
Goetz said until the evidence is examined police won’t know why the gunmen decided to break inside.
“We have to figure out the motive. That’s the bottom line,” he said.
Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446, stevick@heraldnet.com
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