Good Samaritan describes violent encounter at Covington ATM

The search is on for two men who allegedly opened fire on a woman using an ATM in Covington.

A Good Samaritan spoke with the victim.  He explains the moments that led to this violent act.

The shooting happened just after 9 p.m. Friday night at the BECU ATM in Covington on SE 272nd Street.

The woman was hurt but is expected to survive.

Despite this, that ATM has been pretty busy all day. We have seen a parade of people using this BECU ATM.  In fact, a lot of people didn’t know about the shooting.

But the woman who was shot Friday night was doing what they are, trying to get money out of this ATM. But this time, that simple act had violent consequences.

“We just heard a couple of pops, you know, gunshots,” said Cody Helvy. “Sometimes that could be anything.”

Helvy was closing up the nearby Big Lots Friday night when he heard the sound of what turned out to be gunfire.  Then he looked out the window.

“We could see the granddaughter was frantic,” Helvy said. “And we saw a car peel out of the parking lot.”

He grabbed some paper towels and ran over to the 60-year-old grandmother to help.

“And she said two gentlemen walked up with guns and wanted $1,000,” remembered Helvy.  “And she said, ‘I don’t have $1,000,’ and said ‘We don’t care.’ And she tried to, I guess‚ argue with them or, you know, just try to defend herself and they shot her twice. They took her purse afterwards. And she was saying there’s no money in her purse, so why would they take that?”

He says the woman was shot in her right leg and lower abdomen.  She was in pain but alert.

Her granddaughter, he says, thankfully was spared.

“Yeah, it was a stressful night,” he said.

Still, just two days later, this ATM was doing a brisk business. Many here say they hadn’t heard the news. And this customer says knowing wouldn’t have made a difference.

“I feel like today’s society you can be shot doing, whatever,” said the woman, who asked to remain anonymous. “And I know that’s hard to believe.”

It is a night Cody Helvy likely won’t soon forget.

“You’re just getting money out with your granddaughter and you get shot on a random Friday night,” he said. “It’s definitely at the top of my list for craziest things I’ve seen in Covington.”

KIRO 7 does not know how the woman is doing or whether she is still hospitalized. But based on Cody’s description, it sounds like she will survive.

He’d like to meet her to give her a hug, he says.  After all, they experienced something pretty terrifying,  together.

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