3 charged with attempted murder in Wash. cop shooting
MOUNT VERNON, Wash. — A 44-year-old man and two teenagers accused of shooting a police officer in the head have been charged with attempted murder.
Ernesto Lee Rivas Sr., 44; Austin Isaias Gonzalez, 16, charged as an adult; and a 15-year-old boy each were charged Tuesday with attempted first-degree premeditated murder. Officer Mike "Mick" McClaughry of the Mount Vernon Police Department was shot Thursday after responding to a gang-related shooting and remained hospitalized Wednesday in critical but stable condition.
Gonzalez and the 15-year-old, whom the prosecution wants to charge as an adult, also were charged with attempted second-degree intentional murder in the case of Kyler Parker, injured in a shooting earlier in the day that McClaughry was investigating. Rivas, an alleged gang member, has eight previous felony convictions, including assault and attempted assault and is being held on $1 million bail.
At about 5:30 p.m. PT Thursday, Parker was riding in a car in the neighborhood with several other people when the car got a flat tire. The others left to get a tire for the car, and a man in a red bandanna then approached Parker.
The man shot Parker, whom he believed was a member of a rival gang, in the neck, according to court documents.
The shooter, along with an accomplice, ran into a nearby backyard. Witnesses said they saw Rivas, Gonzalez, and another male near the home in the time between the Parker and McClaughry shootings.
When police approached the house to canvass the neighborhood about 60 miles north of Seattle after the earlier crime, shots were fired from the home and struck McClaughry.
During a nearly seven-hour standoff, negotiators contacted Rivas, and “detectives were able to determine that it sounded as though there were juveniles in the background that were joking around and having fun,” according to charging documents. Police eventually took Rivas, Gonzalez, and the 15-year-old into custody without incident.
When detectives searched Rivas’ cellphone records, they found text messages to others about the shooting. One person asked if Rivas was OK, and Rivas responded, "No o (sic) just shot a cop.”
He has not admitted the shooting to investigators, according to court records.
The officer shooting came less than a month after a Tacoma, Wash., police officer was killed responding to a domestic violence call. Officer Reginald “Jake” Gutierrez, 45, was fatally shot Nov. 30. The suspected gunman was killed by a sheriff’s marksman, ending an 11-hour standoff.
Contributing: The Associated Press