Exactly a week before Bothell rookie police officer Jonathan Shoop was shot and killed while trying to make a traffic stop, police say the man who allegedly fired the fatal shots threatened to shoot and kill people at a temp agency, after he was fired.
>>Bothell hit-and-run victim plans to testify against accused cop killer
Renton Police say that on July 6, a secretary from Labor Systems called 911 saying Henry Washington had been fired and was threatening revenge.
"The man called her, threatened to come down and shoot the place up," said Capt. Dave Leibman. "He threatened to shoot their boss. He made a bunch of very inflammatory, threatening comments to her. She was legitimately threatened."
The report was shared with Seattle Police detectives, because Washington had been working in Seattle, and both agencies tried to contact Washington.
"The Seattle officers had some conversation with him on the phone but they said he was unintelligible," Leibman said. "When our officer called him he pretty much told the officer he didn't have time to talk and hung up on the officer."
Commander Leibman said the woman eventually decided not to press harassment charges, so police were forced to close the case.
A week later, police say Washington tried to speed away from a traffic stop, and before allegedly firing at officers — killing Shoop and injuring another officer — he slammed his car into Jalen Irvin, who was riding a scooter on a crosswalk. The impact sent Irvin flying 50 feet, resulting in a shattered femur and a head injury.
Irvin said he's relieved Washington is facing a series of charges. "Hopefully I'll see you in court and that's the last time anybody sees you," Irvin said.
A heat-recognition camera on the King County Sheriff’s Guardian One helicopter later spotted Washington hiding on a Bothell rooftop. Officers arrested the suspect when he tried to jump from one building to another, and became wedged between the buildings.
Cox Media Group
