A 51-year-old man brandishing two rifles was shot and killed by Issaquah police Saturday on the grounds of an elementary school after he reportedly opened fire on officers.
Police began receiving calls about 11:30 a.m. about a man who had abandoned his car in the northbound lane of Front Street South near Newport Way Southwest, at the south edge of downtown Issaquah, according to King County sheriff's spokesman Sgt. John Urquhart.
The man, whose identity was not immediately disclosed, headed south and east carrying two rifles, Urquhart said. The man pointed his weapons at people, but did not fire, as he walked or ran about 1/2 mile to Clark Elementary School, Urquhart said.
When Issaquah police confronted him on a service road at the school, he reportedly dropped to the ground and began shooting.
Some shots were aimed at officers, but others appeared to be random, Urquhart said.
Issaquah police returned fire, striking the man several times. He died at the scene.
There were no other injuries. Police didn't know the gunman's motive, Urquhart said.
David Korpi told KING5 TV he had witnessed the confrontation between the man and police. He said he was at a nearby church for a yard-cleanup event when he heard the confusion and ran over to see what was causing it.
"I saw one person off the side of the building," Korpi told KING5. "There were a number of shots and that person went down and then there were a number of shots around that person to probably make sure they were down."
A youth football game was under way at the time at Issaquah High School, just south of Clark.
Cheryl Puterman, whose daughter Dalia was a cheerleader at the contest, said a coach and police officer announced seven minutes into the game that the field needed to be evacuated.
"Everyone was in a panic," she said.
About 150 people were ushered under the bleachers and "told to keep down and be quiet," she said. "Then we heard the gunshots. Everybody was crying, scared."
They were kept there for two hours, Puterman said, with parents separated from their kids. They got no information from authorities, she said, and so depended on family and friends outside to find out what was happening.
"People were on the phone, texting, quietly talking, saying prayers," Puterman said.
Eventually the group was allowed to sit in the bleachers for about another hour before being allowed to leave, she said.
To get from his abandoned car to Clark, the gunman most likely would have traversed the grounds of Issaquah Middle School and crossed Issaquah's popular Rainier Trail and Second Avenue Southeast, an arterial.
Martin Donnelly, who lives on Front Street just south of where the gunman left his car, said he saw the man pass through his backyard, carrying the two rifles, and head east up a wooded slope. He appeared to be wearing green hunting gear.
Donnelly said he phoned police and heard shots two or three minutes later.
He and his wife, Barbara, moved into the town house just two months ago.
"We thought this was a nice, quiet neighborhood where nothing happens," Barbara Donnelly said.
The Sheriff's Office is investigating because Issaquah police fired the fatal shots.
Police cordoned off streets around Clark and the gunman's abandoned car, a silver Kia, after the shooting. Several blocks of Front Street, downtown Issaquah's major north-south thoroughfare, were blocked until after 5 p.m.
Sara Niegowski, spokeswoman for the Issaquah School District, said police asked administrators to cancel weekend events at Clark, Issaquah High and Tiger Mountain Community High schools -- campuses near the shooting scene.
The incident is not expected to affect the schools' schedules Monday, she added.
Seattle Times staff reporter Lornet Turnbull and the Issaquah Press contributed to this report.
Eric Pryne: 206-464-2231 or [email protected]
Copyright 2011 - The Seattle Times
