UPDATE – BULLETIN: The Bothell, WA police officer killed in an exchange of gunfire earlier this week apparently died from a gunshot wound to the head fired from his partner’s pistol, according to court documents obtained by Liberty Park Press and TheGunMag.com.
Details may be found here in an updated story. Earlier reports indicated that Officer Jonathan Shoop was killed by suspect Henry Eugene Washington, now in custody and facing charges of aggravated first-degree murder, attempted murder in the first degree and vehicular assault.
The revelation was contained in a certification for determination of probable cause prepared by Detective David Fontenot with the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Department Major Crimes Unit.
Earlier, Liberty Park Press reported that Washington allegedly claimed he fired in self-defense “against law enforcement taking his vehicle, marijuana and firearm,” according to a probable cause statement by a Snohomish County Sheriff’s detective that is part of court documents obtained by Liberty Park Press.
Detective David Fontenot also wrote that murder suspect Henry Eugene Washington, who claims to be self-employed on his Facebook page and is listed as “homeless” in court documents, apparently called the Junction City, Kansas Police Department, confessing he had run over “babies” and had shot a Bothell officer in self-defense.
Bothell Officer Jonathan Shoop was killed during a traffic stop, and his field-training officer wounded, initiated because the car Washington was allegedly driving had no rear license plate.
According to court documents, Washington possessed a Texas driver’s license. His Facebook page indicates he arrived in the Seattle area in April.
According to the Everett Herald, Washington has lived in Texas, Arizona and Kansas. The newspaper reported “His criminal record includes convictions for stalking in 2012, attempting to elude police in 2013, making a criminal threat in 2015, and assaulting a law enforcement officer as recently as 2017.”
The suspect apparently sympathizes with the Black Lives Matter movement, as indicated on his Facebook page. An image posted July 3 apparently shows Washington in costume mask holding a pistol. He apparently was also a “certified flagger” in Arizona. The certification was from American Traffic Safety Services Association that expires in April 2024.
According to the Seattle Times, King County District Court Judge Joe Campagna found probable cause to hold the suspect for investigation of first-degree murder, first-degree assault, vehicular assault and attempting to elude police. Washington was arrested hours after the shooting, hiding on a rooftop near the crime scene.
An eye-witness allegedly stated when Washington got out of his car and moved toward the Bothell police vehicle, he yelled “Come on pig, come on pig” before firing his pistol through the driver’s side window.
The sidearm belonging to Shoop’s partner was examined by investigators and found to have a defect on the rear sight “consistent with it being struck by a bullet while (the officer’s) arms are raised in a shooting platform.” Shoop’s partner returned fire.
According to KOMO News, the Seattle-area ABC affiliate, Washington’s mother—who lives in Texas—said her son “has a history of mental illness and suspects her son was off his medication when the shooting happened.”
This raises a question about the source of the handgun Washington allegedly used to kill Shoop.
When Washington initially fled from the police, he allegedly struck a man in a crosswalk, on a scooter, before his car crashed through a median and came to a stop. The pedestrian suffered a broken leg.
Washington, who is black, is being held in the King County jail. He did not attend his first court appearance because of reported “medical issue.” Shoop was white. He had worked for the Bothell Police Department a little more than one year, and was the first officer in that department’s history to be killed in the line of duty, according to anecdotal reports.
Washington, 37, reportedly lived with his mother in Waco, Texas. It has not been established what he was doing in Bothell, or even why he traveled from Texas to Washington State.
