MARYSVILLE — A Marysville man, 59, was shot eight times Sunday, reportedly after asking a stranger to leave his neighborhood.
The suspect, also 59, had brandished a gun at someone else a half hour earlier, according to the arrest report.
Wayne H. Alpert was booked into the Snohomish County Jail for investigation of second-degree murder and assault. A judge on Monday afternoon found probable cause for his arrest. Bail was set at $1 million.
The fatal gunfire was reported around 5:45 p.m. Sunday at an apartment complex along 73rd Place NE. The victim, who lived there, died at the scene from gunshot wounds to the neck, head and torso.
Marysville police found the suspect sitting on the curb, saying, “I shot him,” according to the report.
Officers say the Lynnwood-area man told them conflicting stories about who had advanced on whom.
Witnesses, meanwhile, said that before the confrontation, the victim had been on his porch enjoying the sun, and the suspect was walking around shirtless and acting strangely. At one point, he reportedly was pointing his 9mm handgun in the air.
Police also allege the suspect was involved in another altercation in town around 5:15 p.m. In that case, he was accused of yelling at a Community Transit bus driver. Another man, described as a stranger, told him to calm down.
When that man and the suspect both got off the bus, the suspect reportedly pulled his gun, loaded a round in the chamber, and aimed it at the man. Multiple people called 911 to report him waving a gun around. Police and a tracking dog were unable to locate the suspect. They then began receiving 911 calls about the killing.
In asking for high bail, deputy prosecutor Joan Cavagnaro said it appears the victims were picked at random.
“He was just out to shoot someone as it appears in the probable cause,” Cavagnaro said.
The suspect’s public defender Whitney Rivera asked for bail to be reduced, saying Alpert has no felony convictions and a 10 year old misdemeanor.
Diana Hefley contributed to this story.
Rikki King: 425-339-3449; rking@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @rikkiking.
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