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Man, 2 teens charged in shooting of Mount Vernon officer

By Joanna Small
By Joanna Small

MOUNT VERNON, Wash. — KIRO 7 has new information Tuesday about the charges against the man and two teens accused of shooting and gravely wounding a Mount Vernon police officer.

We now know officers responded to the house on Laventure Road for another shooting that seriously injured another teen.

Last Thursday night, family members of Ernesto Rivas—the 44-year-old man holed up inside his Mount Vernon house on Laventure Road after police say he shot an officer—pleaded for Rivas to release his young hostages.

“Ernie if you could please let Austin out and any other kids out--please let them out,” Anna Berris Gonzales said into our camera on Thursday night.

But police say there were never hostages, that two teens—16-year-old Austin Gonzales and a 15-year-old-- were inside the house willingly and shooting at police for hours.

According to new Skagit County court documents, Gonzales and the other teen are the reason police came to the home.

The boys are accused of shooting 18-year-old Kyler Vallejo in the neck in the street near the home.

Vallejo is allegedly a member of the Soreno gang, a rival of the Nortenos.

Police say Rivas, Gonzales, and the 15-year-old are Nortenos.

Tuesday night via Facebook, Kyler Vallejo’s older brother said he’s recovering at home and doing well.

Pablo Vallejo shared pictures of his brother who he says is the youngest of ten siblings and has more than two dozen nieces and nephews.

All three people-- Rivas, Gonzales and the 15 year old-- face attempted first degree murder charges for shooting Mike McClaughry. %

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The teens face an additional attempted second degree murder charge for shooting Vallejo; the 15 year old is charged as a juvenile so we are not naming him.

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