Bothell police: Accused random killer felt ‘attacked’ by an ‘anti-masker’

BOTHELL, Wash. — The 25-year-old Bothell man arrested for allegedly stabbing and killing a man he’d never met before ran from the scene and told his mother that “an anti-masker had attacked him,” moments after the stabbing, according to documents provided to KIRO 7 from the King County prosecutor’s office.

Ian Patrick Williams is being held in the King County Jail without bail for investigation of second-degree murder.

Williams is accused of stabbing 29-year-old John Huynh of Everett on Sunday at 7:15 p.m., within seconds after seeing Huynh leave a Bothell apartment complex, where Williams lived with his mother.

According to police documents, Huynh was leaving the building with a witness while Williams was standing near the door.

The witness told Bothell police Ian Williams “flipped his middle finger” at Huynh as he left the building.

The witness told police Huynh asked Williams - who he had never seen before - if he “flipped him off or waved at him.”

The witness said Williams then pulled out a knife and stabbed Huynh in the heart.

Four bystanders applied pressure to Huynh’s wound, and Shoreline paramedics attempted a field blood transfusion in an effort to save him, but Huynh was pronounced dead in the ambulance, according to court documents.

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Police said Williams’ mother told them he was “very excited and told her an anti-masker had attacked him.”

“She told him to show her where he was hurt and he initially said he was not hurt, but he thought he hurt the other guy,” according to court documents.

Bothell officers found Williams in the bedroom of his apartment tending to cuts on his hands.

Williams refused to make a statement, according to police.

Police arrested Williams and found a folding knife in the bathroom of his apartment.

A GoFundMe page has been set up by the victim’s family, hoping to hold his burial in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where his parents live.

According to his friends, Huynh was a proud newlywed and worked with patients at an Everett health organization.

A statement regarding Huynh was sent to KIRO 7 by close friends: “John was such an incredibly kind soul and the textbook definition of a humble man of God. He consistently tried to help others and make their lives better. Just recently he introduced us to a friend of his that he was working on helping start a career. John had no problem walking up to a stranger and inviting them into a cheerful conversation. He was the kind of person that always greeted you with a big smile and a compliment. The last conversation we had with him, he was describing his approach in life of ‘going with the flow.’ He didn’t like the idea of planning out life events, but rather he wanted to be present and enjoy whatever life threw at him. I walked away from the conversation with a better outlook on life. He will be truly missed by so many people, who he went out of his way to offer comfort.”

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