A man has been charged with assault and burglary after he allegedly shot the front door of Renton Fire Station 12, then assaulted two police officers after entering.
According to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office (KCPAO), on June 11, a 35-year-old Renton man was charged with first-degree burglary and third-degree assault after a June 9 incident where he allegedly shot the glass front door of the Renton Regional Fire Authority Station 12, 1209 Kirkland Ave. NE. The suspect then entered the station, and when contacted by police, he punched one officer and headbutted another. According to charging documents, the man caused about $5,000 worth of damage.
According to the King County Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention jail lookup portal, the man remains at King County Correctional Facility on $100,000 bail. The man’s next court appearance is an arraignment on June 25, where an initial plea is entered, a KCPAO spokesperson said.
Details of the case
According to documents, at about 6:01 a.m. June 9, Renton Police Department officers were dispatched to a report of a threat with a gun at Renton Regional Fire Authority Station 12. The suspect was identified as a man who had been sleeping in a dark sedan parked outside the station.
According to documents, when an officer arrived on the scene, he identified the suspect and demanded that he walk backward to the sound of his voice, but he ignored the officer and got inside his sedan. Documents stated that the suspect then exited the vehicle and began walking toward the officer with his phone as if he was recording him.
After the officer told the suspect to stop moving or he would be tased, the officer deployed his taser against the suspect, but it was ineffective, according to documents. The officer stated that he knew the suspect was armed, but he did not know where the gun was.
Documents stated that the responding officer was then behind the suspect, trying to control his arm, but the suspect was able to turn toward the officer and punch him in the upper left side of his head. The officer stated that he then escorted the suspect to the ground and placed him in handcuffs.
According to documents, after the suspect was detained and taken to the police department, an officer checked the suspect’s chin because he suffered an injury. After an officer told the suspect to tilt his chin up so he could check on the injury, the suspect headbutted the officer’s left cheek, causing a minor abrasion and pain.
Officers then spoke with a battalion chief, who stated that he was working in his office at the time the incident occurred. The battalion chief said that he was in his office when he heard a crack and thought that something had fallen off the wall.
According to documents, the battalion chief said the suspect hit the front door’s glass window, so he began to yell at him, but when he realized he had a gun, he retreated. Documents stated that the battalion chief then saw the suspect reach in to open the door, causing all the firefighters inside to run out of the back of the building.
Surveillance video captured the suspect urinating on the front door at about 5:17 a.m. Documents also stated that at about 5:58 a.m., the suspect is then seen kicking the locked front door, causing it to splinter.
Surveillance video captured the suspect returning at about 5:59 a.m. and shooting the front door once with a handgun. According to documents, the suspect returned about five minutes later, unlocked the door, and then propped it open with a bench from outside.
An officer was able to locate a single 10mm shell casing outside the front door, noticed a bullet hole through the glass door and then found the bullet lodged into another wooden door about 20 feet inside the building. According to documents, the firefighters’ living quarters were on the same floor where the shooting took place and are located just past where the bullet struck the door. According to documents, the suspect’s firearm was not located, but a cardboard box associated with a gun brand was found in the suspect’s vehicle.
The suspect’s family was contacted and stated that the suspect had a mental breakdown in February 2023 and spent a week in a mental hospital. Also according to documents, in February 2023, the suspect began acting on hallucinations, attempting to engage with objects and people who were either not present or unknown to him. Documents stated that two of his firearms were taken for safekeeping.
