2008 Skagit County shootings

Last updated

2008 Skagit County shootings
Part of mass shootings in the United States
Location Skagit County, Washington, U.S.
DateSeptember 2, 2008
2:15 – 4:30 p.m.
Attack type
 Spree shooting, shootout
Weapons
Deaths6
Injured2
PerpetratorIsaac Zamora
MotiveMental illness

On September 2, 2008, 28-year-old Isaac Zamora killed six people (including one sheriff's deputy) and wounded two more on a shooting rampage in Skagit County, Washington. The incident began when Skagit County Sheriff's Deputy Anne Jackson responded to a call at Zamora's home in Alger. Zamora shot Jackson and then left the residence. He shot seven additional people and led authorities on a high-speed chase along Interstate 5 before surrendering at the Skagit County Sheriff's Office in Mount Vernon, Washington.

Contents

Shooting

On the evening of September 2, Alger, Washington resident Isaac Zamora had gone into a neighbor's house, stealing their rifle and shotgun. [1] Isaac Zamora's mother, Dennise Zamora, called police around 2:15 p.m. in response to the trespassing. [1] [2] [3] Skagit County Sheriff's Deputy Anne Jackson arrived to the scene, where Isaac Zamora shot and killed her. [2] [3] Deputies responded to reports of gunfire, and they arrived to find Jackson and another person dead at the scene. Zamora killed three other people in Alger. [3] [4] After the Alger shootings, Zamora raced south on Interstate 5 at speeds near 90 miles per hour while troopers, sheriff's deputies, and Mount Vernon police pursued him. [2] [5] During the chase, Zamora shot Trooper Troy Giddings, who drove himself to a hospital and was released afterwards. [2] A motorcyclist at a Shell gas station was injured after being shot, and another man, Leroy Lange, was killed after being shot while riding south in his SUV. [2] [3] [4] Around 4:30 p.m., Zamora drove into the parking lot of the Skagit County Sheriff's Office in Mount Vernon, where he surrendered. [2] [3] [4] He was arrested and booked in Mount Vernon Jail. [4]

Perpetrator

Isaac Zamora had a history of mental health problems, and a criminal record. [4] Dennise Zamora said Isaac had first experienced mental health issues when their family's house burned down a decade before. [4] He was living in the woods on and off for years, and working as a house painter. [4] He had grown "increasingly despondent" after breaking up with his girlfriend and being injured while painting a house. He then became addicted to painkillers. [3] He moved into a trailer on the Zamora family property in Alger. [3] Dennise said she had tried to get help for Zamora multiple times. [5] Deputy Jackson had tried to help the Zamora family in the past and told Dennise to call her anytime for help. [2] [4] For 6 months in 2008, Zamora had served a jail sentence in the county for felony drug possession. [2] [4] He was released on August 6. [4] As a part of his sentence, after Zamora was released, he was supposed to undergo a mental health evaluation. He couldn't afford one, and his corrections officers were working on getting him one. [3] The corrections officer assigned to Zamora did not know Zamora was keeping guns in his trailer, which would have been an arrestable offense. [6] Zamora's last report to his corrections officer was on August 21. [4]

Aftermath

Washington Governor Christine Gregoire called for an independent review into how Zamora's criminal cases were handled. [4] At his 2009 trial, Zamora pled guilty to several felony charges, including four counts of aggravated murder, in the shootings, and not guilty by reason of insanity to two additional counts of aggravated murder. Zamora received four life sentences and was subsequently committed to Western State Hospital. [7] In 2012, Zamora was moved to the Monroe Correctional Complex due to concerns that his presence posed a threat to hospital staff and other patients. As of 2019, Zamora was appealing for a new trial. [8]

In 2013, the state of Washington paid $9 million to settle lawsuits from the victims' families who claimed more could have been done to prevent the shooting. [6]

Victims

[1]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skagit County, Washington</span> County in Washington, United States

Skagit County is a county in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, the population was 129,523. The county seat and largest city is Mount Vernon. The county was formed in 1883 from Whatcom County and is named for the Skagit Indian tribe, which has been indigenous to the area prior to European-American settlement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alger, Washington</span> CDP in Washington, United States

Alger is a census-designated place (CDP) in Skagit County, Washington, United States. The population was 403 at the 2010 census. It is included in the Mount Vernon–Anacortes, Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Nichols</span> American mass murderer and rapist

Brian Gene Nichols is an accused rapist and convicted murderer known for his escape and killing spree in the Fulton County Courthouse in Atlanta, Georgia, on March 11, 2005. Nichols was on trial for rape when he escaped custody and murdered the judge presiding over his trial, a court reporter, a Fulton County Sheriff's deputy, and later an ICE special agent. Twenty-six hours after a large-scale manhunt was launched in the metropolitan Atlanta area, Nichols was taken into custody. The prosecution charged him with committing 54 crimes during the escape; he was found guilty on all counts on November 7, 2008 and was subsequently sentenced to life in prison.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bow, Washington</span> Unincorporated community in Washington, US

Bow is an unincorporated community in Skagit County, Washington. It is located near the towns of Bay View, Edison, Burlington, and Mount Vernon. Bow is included in the Mount Vernon-Anacortes, Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area. Bow overlooks Samish Bay. The population of Bow is 203 in the 2020 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Tracy</span> American Old West outlaw (1875-1902)

Harry Tracy was an outlaw in the American Old West.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seattle Jewish Federation shooting</span> Anti-Semitic attack in Seattle

The Seattle Jewish Federation shooting occurred in Seattle on July 28, 2006, at around 4:00 p.m. PT, when Naveed Afzal Haq shot six women, one fatally, at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle building.

LewisGale Hospital Montgomery, formerly Montgomery Regional Hospital (MRH), is a hospital in the town of Blacksburg, in Montgomery County, Virginia. The hospital is a subsidiary of Hospital Corporation of America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monroe Correctional Complex</span>

Monroe Correctional Complex is a Washington State Department of Corrections men's prison located in Monroe, Washington, United States. With an operating capacity of 2,500, it is the second largest prison in the state. It opened in 1910, 21 years after statehood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western State Hospital (Washington)</span> Psychiatric hospital in Washington State, United States

Western State Hospital is a psychiatric hospital located at 9601 Steilacoom Boulevard SW in Lakewood, Washington. Administered by the Washington Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), it is a large facility with 806 beds, and Washington's second-oldest state-owned enterprise.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">King County Sheriff's Office</span>

The King County Sheriff's Office (KCSO) is a local police agency in King County, Washington, United States. It is the primary law enforcement agency for all unincorporated areas of King County, as well as 12 cities and two transit agencies which contract their police services to the KCSO. KCSO also provides police and fire Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting to the King County International Airport. KCSO also provides regional-level support services to other local law enforcement agencies such as air support and search and rescue. The department has over 1,000 employees and serves 2.1 million citizens, over 500,000 of whom live in either unincorporated areas or the 12 contract cities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department</span> Law enforcement agency in California, United States

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD), officially the County of Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, is a law enforcement agency serving Los Angeles County, California. LASD is the largest sheriff's department in the United States and the third largest local police agency in the United States, following the New York Police Department, and the Chicago Police Department. LASD has approximately 18,000 employees, 9,915 sworn deputies and 9,244 unsworn members. It is sometimes confused with the unrelated Los Angeles Police Department which provides law enforcement service within the city of Los Angeles, which is the county seat of Los Angeles County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prince George's County Sheriff's Office</span> Law enforcement services in Prince Georges County, Maryland in the United States

The Prince George's County Sheriff's Office (PGSO), officially the Office of the Sheriff, Prince George's County, provides law enforcement services in Prince George's County, Maryland in the United States. Its headquarters are located in Upper Marlboro, near the Depot Pond. The sheriff is the chief law enforcement officer of Prince George's County and is elected every four years. There are no term limits for the sheriff.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2009 Lakewood shooting</span> 2009 murder of four Lakewood police officers in Parkland, Washington, USA

On November 29, 2009, four police officers of Lakewood, Washington were fatally shot at the Forza Coffee shop, located at 11401 Steele Street #108 South in the Parkland unincorporated area of Pierce County, Washington, near Tacoma. A gunman, later identified as Maurice Clemmons, entered the shop, shot the officers while they worked on laptops, and fled the scene with a single gunshot wound in his torso. After a massive two-day manhunt that spanned several nearby cities, an officer recognized Clemmons near a stalled car in south Seattle. When he refused orders to stop, he was shot and killed by a Seattle Police Department officer.

On March 7, 2006, Joseph Erin Hamley, an unarmed man, was fatally shot by Arkansas State Trooper Larry P. Norman of West Fork, Arkansas. At 7 a.m. on March 7, 2006, Hamley, who had cerebral palsy, was walking alone on U.S. Route 412, just outside the community of Tontitown along the Benton-Washington county line when several Washington County deputies surrounded him. Four minutes later, before being identified, and while lying on the ground, a shotgun slug fired by Norman, an Arkansas State Trooper breaking police protocol and procedure killed Hamley. The fatal shooting was recorded from multiple vantage points on dashboard cameras of the various police cruisers present. Norman was indicted on and pled guilty to negligent homicide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2003 Ennis shootings</span> Mass shooting in Montana

The 2003 Ennis shootings occurred on June 14, 2003, when 44-year-old George Harold Davis opened fire on a group of people outside a bar in downtown Ennis, in Madison County, Montana, then engaged police officers in a high-speed chase and shootout. Davis killed one man and injured six other bystanders at the bar. He was then chased by a sheriff's deputy and highway patrol officer. The chase terminated on the Idaho/Montana state border. Davis was arrested and sentenced to eleven life terms, the longest prison sentence in Montana state history. The chase and shootout were captured on dashboard cameras installed within the two pursuing patrol vehicles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cascade Mall shooting</span> Mass shooting in Burlington, Washington

On September 23, 2016, a mass shooting occurred at Cascade Mall in Burlington, Washington, U.S. Five people were killed in the incident. The gunman was identified as Arcan Cetin, a 20-year-old who emigrated from Turkey as a child with his family. He was arrested the following day in Oak Harbor, Washington, his hometown. On September 26, he confessed to committing the shooting. On April 16, 2017, Cetin killed himself via hanging in his jail cell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rancho Tehama shootings</span> 2017 shooting spree in Rancho Tehama, California, US

On November 13–14, 2017, a series of shootings occurred in Rancho Tehama, an unincorporated community in Tehama County, California, U.S. The gunman, 44-year-old Kevin Janson Neal, died by suicide after a Corning police officer rammed and stopped his stolen vehicle. During the shooting spree, five people were killed and eighteen others were injured at eight separate crime scenes, including an elementary school. Ten people suffered bullet wounds and eight were cut by flying glass caused by the gunfire. The injured victims were transported to several area clinics and hospitals.

On January 10, 2001, a shooting spree took place in Nevada County, California, when 40-year-old Scott Harlan Thorpe opened fire with a semi-automatic pistol, killing three people and wounding three others in two separate shootings in the Nevada County area. The victims were 19-year-old Laura Wilcox, 68-year-old Pearlie Mae Feldman, and 24-year-old Mike Markle. The shooting spree led to the implementation of Laura's Law, a California state law that allows for court-ordered assisted outpatient treatment. The law was named after Laura Wilcox, one of the victims of the shooting spree. Michael Moore's 2002 documentary film Bowling for Columbine was dedicated to Wilcox's memory.

Jay Roland Cook and Tanya Van Cuylenborg were a Canadian couple from Saanich, British Columbia who were murdered while on a trip to Seattle, Washington in November 1987.

At approximately 3:00 am (CDT) on Wednesday, June 23, 2021, 17-year-old Hunter Brittain, who was unarmed, was fatally shot by Lonoke County sheriff's deputy Sgt. Michael Davis near Cabot, Arkansas, United States. He later died at North Little Rock Hospital.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "State moves killer Isaac Zamora from mental hospital to prison". The Seattle Times. December 5, 2012. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Sheriff's deputy, five others killed in rural Washington state". Twin Cities. September 2, 2008. Retrieved December 5, 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Frosch, Dan (September 3, 2008). "Man Charged With Killing Six in Washington State". The New York Times . Retrieved December 4, 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "Skagit County shooting spree leaves 6 dead, including sheriff's deputy, 2 injured". The Seattle Times. September 2, 2008. Retrieved December 5, 2023.
  5. 1 2 "Man accused of killing 6 in Wash. recently jailed". NBC News. September 3, 2008. Retrieved December 5, 2023.
  6. 1 2 "State to pay $9M to victims of Skagit Co. spree". KIRO 7 News Seattle. June 26, 2013. Retrieved December 5, 2023.
  7. ↑ "Zamora pleads guilty in shooting rampage, won't face death penalty". seattlepi.com. November 16, 2009. Retrieved January 29, 2017.
  8. ↑ "Convicted murderer Isaac Zamora wants to withdraw guilty pleas". October 24, 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.