RENTON, Wash. — A Kirkland man is accused of firing at a Renton police officer while she was inside her vehicle. Now the suspect and his mother are speaking out, saying that’s not what happened.
Surveillance video captures part of the shooting incident. It shows 24-year-old Frankie Robertson coming out of the back of a red Kia, appearing to open fire from a gas station pump. He’s shooting south toward Talbot Road South.
“He was not shooting at an officer,” said Lanise Edwards, Robertson’s mother. “I just don’t understand how they can have false accusations like that,” she said.
Robertson said there was another red vehicle that he was firing at.
“You guys can’t see we’re being targeted? You guys can’t see that?” Robertson said over the phone call from jail.
The video does show another red car in the area, but it does not show what initially happened that spurred Robertson to shoot. He said he was trying to motion to the other red car to leave and attempting to deescalate the situation before he got out the gun.
Moments later, you see him opening fire. Then he jumps back inside, and the car speeds away.
Another camera shows a Renton police vehicle on Talbot Road South when Robertson started shooting. The Renton police chief put out a statement last week after the incident happened, saying, “While sitting in traffic a subject fired multiple rounds at our officer, this was an unprovoked attack which I can only assume the intent was to kill the officer.”
Message from the Chief to our community regarding shooting incident towards our officer the other day and bail amounts set for suspects/sh pic.twitter.com/hQB9u9WKpg
— Renton Police Dept. (@RentonpdWA) September 10, 2021
Robertson said he did not even see the police vehicle there.
“We’re getting lied on,” Robertson said over the phone. “Now I’m going to be targeted by the police and everything, and I look like a bad guy to the whole community, and that’s not the type of person I am,” he said.
Robertson has a criminal history and is not supposed to be carrying a firearm but said he didn’t feel safe without a weapon.
“I’m not saying that’s right. Because it’s not,” Edwards said. She said they were working on a plan to relocate Robertson out of the area so that he could get a fresh start when this happened.
Renton police said there are a lot of moving parts with the case and are asking for the public’s help in collecting more information and videos. They ask anyone with information to call police.
However, in a Facebook post on Tuesday afternoon, the police department still stated, “One of our officers was targeted.”
Video Release – Case # 21-8883 ShootingVideo Release – Case # 21-8883 Shooting Investigations Division is releasing some of the video from the shooting that took place on September 7th, 2021, when one of our officers was targeted. We are asking for additional witnesses to come forward that may have taken cell phone video or photos at the Chevron or intersection leading up to, during and/or after the shooting that could have captured any part of this incident. Timeframe would be between 4:40 p.m. to 4:48 p.m. (approximate times given as shooting begins at 4:46 p.m.) on Tuesday, September 7th, 2021. The Chevron gas station is located at 800 S Grady Way and the main intersection is Talbot Rd S/S Grady Way. We have attached one video (see parts 1 & 2) : Part 1 of the video displays the shooter along with various bystanders and potential witnesses. Several seconds before the shooting you can see the suspect get out of a red car and make what seem to be “get out of the way” gestures. As the shooting starts you can see several bystanders take cover. Our officer cannot be seen from this viewpoint but was located just outside of the viewing area, right hand side, where she had just entered the turn lane to go east from Talbot Rd S onto S Grady Way, after pulling out of the Brown Bear Car Wash at Chevron. Part 2 of the video will show our officer coming into the east bound turn lane after pulling out of the car wash (see top of screen). After shots are fired, you can see the red suspect vehicle circle around and flee the area. You can see our officer navigate her vehicle to get out of the turn lane and pull into the gas station, where several witnesses direct her towards the direction of the fleeing vehicle. Please review the video and if you have any additional information that could assist in the investigation, please reach out to Det. Tracie Jarratt at tjarratt@rentonwa.gov and reference Case #21-8883.
Posted by Renton Police Department, WA on Tuesday, September 14, 2021
Investigators also accused Robertson of firing at a state trooper in Tukwila earlier this year, saying they found his DNA at the scene.
He’s currently being held in custody on a $500,000 bond.
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