2 arrested in connection with homicide at Everett park, 1 remains at large

EVERETT, Wash. — Two of three men believed to be connected to the shooting death of a man at Everett’s Langus Riverfront Park were arrested, police said Saturday.

The shooting happened at around 3:45 p.m. Aug. 31 at the park, just west of Interstate 5 and on the Snohomish River.

Police said they found a man, later identified by the Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office as 56-year-old James R. Scannell, dead at the scene.

On Saturday, a 42-year-old and a 29-year-old, whom investigators identified as suspects, were arrested for investigation of murder, officials said.

According to detectives, witnesses told them that right after the shooting, two men were seen running from the victim’s vehicle and got into a red Ford Escape.

The Escape’s license plate was recorded in surveillance footage from a nearby business, officials said.

On the night of the shooting, a private towing company had impounded the vehicle from a nearby apartment complex unrelated to the investigation, investigators confirmed. When authorities found out, they seized the vehicle and later searched it under warrant.

Detectives said they found evidence inside that led them to a woman who told them she had been with her roommate and another friend, both male, when they met up with a third man. She told investigators that the three men left her at a casino while they drove to Everett, the night of the homicide.

Investigators said they questioned her 42-year-old roommate who admitted to driving two men to Langus Riverfront Park in his Ford Escape with the intent of buying drugs. During the drive, the man was told that the other men had planned to use fake money and rob the victim.

The roommate told investigators that he stayed in the vehicle while the others met with Scannell and that before they returned, he heard a gunshot, according to detectives. The roommate and the other men fled the park, and he hid the vehicle at a nearby apartment complex.

Law enforcement said they identified the men and developed probable cause to arrest them based on evidence, witness statements and interviews.

The roommate was booked into the Snohomish County Jail, and a 29-year-old man who investigators believe shot Scannell was arrested after a chase and crash, police said.

Investigators said a 26-year-old suspect remains at large.

Cox Media Group