A good Samaritan who tried to stop suspects from robbing a 7-Eleven in Lynnwood is in the hospital after being shot in the leg early Friday morning.
The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) say an 18-year-old has been arrested. As of early Friday afternoon, detective are looking for three other suspects involved.
Ben and Azelynne Hirst live walking distance from the 7-Eleven located off 148th Street in where it all happened.
“Kind of shocked to see the area right in front of our house completely covered with crime scene tape,” they told KIRO 7.
Detectives say the shooting happened in the parking lot. They laid out several evidence markers, and photographed the scene where a man in his 40s was shot.
SCSO spokesperson Courtney O’Keefe says this started out as an attempted robbery involving four suspects.
“Two of them were inside a vehicle, and two of them were inside the store attempting to steal some items,” said O’Keefe.
According to investigators, a customer driving a tow truck showed up to the 7-Eleven around 3 a.m. He quickly realized what was happening, and tried stopping the suspects.
“The suspects all jumped in a vehicle, and as they were fleeing from the scene one of the suspects fired shots at the victim, striking him in the leg,” said O’Keefe.
Police spotted the getaway car, and chased the suspects to Everett where they crashed on 35th and Grand, before running away.
The victim suffered non-life-threading injuries and is expected to be OK.
Both Ben and Azelynne are relieved to hear that, and say they don’t know if they could be that brave.
“If they had aimed higher or weren’t paying attention, that is your life,” they noted.