A driver fired shots at people in two cars waiting for the Hood Canal Bridge to open overnight, injuring a man in a van and barely missing a man and his two young daughters in an SUV.
"It makes me sick to my stomach. It's any parent's worst nightmare come true," said Mike Brooks, who told KIRO 7 he was taking his daughters to the airport when the driver behind them started shooting. "Thank God my kids were sleeping and I had leaned over to check the maps on my phone. One of the bullets that struck my vehicle actually went through the head rests and exited out the windshield where we would have been sitting if we had been sitting upright."
Washington State Patrol Trooper Chelsea Hodgson said three vehicles were stopped in the eastbound lanes of westbound Highway 104 at the bridge while it was closed for evening maintenance. The drivers were waiting for the bridge to open.
The driver in between the two cars fired shots at the cars ahead and behind him at 3:42 a.m. Tuesday.
A Ford SUV that was in front of the shooter was occupied by a man and his 5- and 7-year-old daughters. The gunshots missed both girls, who were asleep.
One bullet went through the driver's seat head rest, missing the man, who was leaning toward the passenger seat when the shots were fired, according to Hodgson. No one was hurt.
The driver of a Dodge Grand Caravan behind the shooter received a glancing gunshot wound to the elbow. He was asleep in his vehicle when the shots were fired.
WSP says the shooter died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
On Tuesday night, WSP identified the suspect as 20-year-old Krishna Mahadevan-Prasad.
Troopers said Mahadevan-Prasad was wanted by Renton police as a suspect in the murder of a 38-year-old Bellevue woman, who was found dead in a Renton motel.
Anyone with information about Mahadevan-Prasad's activities days before the murder is asked to contact Renton police at 425-430-7573.
Brooks says the bridge workers called 911 and re-opened the bridge early to help him drive away from the gunman.
"It has turned my world upside down today. Seeing daylight today, it's been one of the most beautiful days in the 28 years I've been here. My guardian angels were definitely looking out for us today," said Brooks.
Brooks was taking his daughters to Sea-Tac Airport this morning for a flight to Ohio where they live with their mother. They missed their flight, and now their mother is coming to help comfort them in Port Angeles.
The community is pulling together to help the family. The GoFundMe is linked here.
A pilot who knows one of Brooks' relatives, volunteered to fly the girls' mother from Boeing Field back to Port Angeles after she arrives at Sea-Tac tonight. He wanted it that way so she can be with her daughters even faster.
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Cox Media Group
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