Another highway shooting rattling drivers in King County. In the latest case, a suspect opened fire on Wednesday -- shooting three times at a driver on Highway 18 in Auburn – striking that vehicle. Now Washington State Patrol troopers are looking for witnesses and dash cam video.
It makes the seventh confirmed shooting just in January of 2024. If the rest of the year keeps up, it’s now on track to surpass the 57 highway shootings in King County in 2023.
Troopers say in Wednesday’s case the victim had no idea why he was shot at. But it happened just after 3pm Wednesday, right after the driver legally passed a semi-truck.
“And this white Dodge Charger pulled up next to him. He saw the passenger with a weapon and indicated to the detective that he ducked. He heard three shots, and that vehicle took off,” said Senior Trooper Rick Johnson with the Washington State Patrol (WSP).
The victim’s car had two bullet holes, but thankfully the driver was not hurt. The driver got off on the SE 304th Ave exit and called 911.
The shooting led law enforcement to tail the suspect to tail the Charger – a rented car -- all the way to an apartment complex in Fife. Troopers and police, along with a WSP plane, followed the Charger but never gave chase for safety reasons.
At one point, the suspects got off the highway in Tacoma and threw out a gun. A witness phoned that in, and troopers recovered the weapon.
Then the suspects got on I-5 and continued to an apartment complex in Fife.
“I heard them peeling in, I heard police sirens, screaming shouting, they had their guns out everything. It was scary,” said Aaron Wahlund, who lives near the complex.
Johnson said the incident can’t be called road rage at the moment, because even the victim doesn’t know why the shooter opened fire.
“Your adrenaline is pumping, you don’t know if you cut somebody off,” Johnson said.
At the apartment complex, video from the WSP plane showed the suspects changing clothes, abandoning the rental car, and getting into another car before speeding away.
“They dumped their jackets. They’re in white t-shirts. They know we’re here and they’re ducking in and out of car ports,” you hear someone in the plane say.
What really has people alarmed – is the fact that this is the seventh confirmed highway shooting just in King County so far this year.
“Just in January? Holy cow. I want to find a different spot to move,” Wahlund said.
Drivers say it’s hard to know how to feel safe.
“We just chance it I guess! If we make it back we make it back. But it’s a lot of craziness out there,” said another resident at the apartment complex.
State patrol is following up on who rented that white Dodge Charger. They’re also asking for witnesses and anyone with dash cam video to give them a call.
Meanwhile, they’re reminding people to drive defensively. Johnson says don’t engage with any aggressive drivers because that seems to be a catalyst for these highway shootings.
Troopers are doing emphasis patrols, focusing on South King County – that’s where Johnson says the majority of the highway shootings have been occurring.
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