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SEATTLE — Five people, including three youths, were fatally shot near the Lake Alice public boat launch site in the Fall City area Monday morning, according to law enforcement officials.

A sixth victim, a teenager, was injured and hospitalized with injuries to at least two parts of their body, King County Sheriff’s Deputy Mike Mellis said at a news conference Monday afternoon.

A “young man” in his “midteens,” who lives at the house along with the victims, was taken into custody, Mellis said.

He described a “chaotic scene” inside the home on Lake Alice Road Southeast and said firearms were involved.

Mellis did not identify the victims, nor did he have the children’s exact ages or genders, but said they appeared to be teenagers. He declined to comment on whether the incident involved parents and their children, but said it appears the suspect and victims were family.

He said the suspect was expected to be booked into the Judge Patricia H. Clark Children and Family Justice Center — King County’s juvenile detention facility — later Monday.

Mellis said the shooting “essentially concluded” before the 911 call was made and deputies arrived.

“There was no significant confrontation with the young man that was taken into custody,” Mellis said. “What had happened had happened. It was done.”

Law enforcement vehicles had lined the street around 11 a.m. with strips of yellow crime-scene tape blocking access to the road and to the Lake Alice boat launch, several hundred yards northeast of where the shooting happened, King County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Tim Meyer said.

He said a judge had approved a warrant to search inside the home.

Early reports mentioned a possible suicide, Mellis said, but it was later determined that was a miscommunication between the person who called 911 and the dispatcher.

Mellis said there likely will not be any additional arrests and there was no continued threat to the public.

“This incident was a very contained tragedy within a family or with an extended family or the residents here,” Mellis said.

Mellis said the police had not been called to the house for a significant reason before.

Around 2 p.m., Mellis said family members of the victims had been notified and some relatives were en route to the area.

The Washington State Patrol had a unit at the scene to investigate, which Mellis said implies “a significant scene that is going to take a lot of expertise.”

On Monday evening, at least a half-dozen police cars still sat parked on the street in heavy rain. A white tent had been set up in a driveway of the wooded neighborhood with gated properties. Onlookers couldn’t get past the public fishing area due to police barricades.

Investigators will likely process the scene for days, Mellis said. The King County Medical Examiner’s Office will also respond to the scene, Mellis said.

An attorney with the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office was called to the address, Mellis said, which is standard for homicide cases.

“We got a very significant, long investigation at this house,” Mellis said.

©2024 The Seattle Times. Visit seattletimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Two 31-year-old Navy veterans from California were identified Monday as the aviators killed when their EA-18G Growler crashed last week east of Mount Rainier.

Lt. Cmdr. Lyndsay Evans, a naval flight officer, and Lt. Serena Wileman, a naval aviator, went missing when the Growler crashed Tuesday afternoon near White Pass during a training flight. Authorities found the wreckage a day later, and the Navy declared the two crew members deceased on Sunday.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation. Navy search crews were able to reach the crash site Friday. The jet wreckage was at about 6,000 feet of elevation on a steep mountainside, unreachable by motor vehicle, and the terrain and cloudy weather complicated the search.

On Monday, the two decorated combat veterans were described as "trailblazers" whose influence "touched countless people on the flight deck and well beyond," according to a Navy tribute posted after they were identified.

Based near Oak Harbor at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, the pair belonged to Electronic Attack Squadron 130, known as the "Zappers." They had returned in July from a nine-month combat deployment on the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower primarily on the Red Sea, according to the Navy.

As part of the strikes into Houthi-controlled Yemen, "they were involved in the most dynamic combat action in defense of the strike group and freedom of navigation since World War II." They were two of just a few women to fly combat missions over land, according to the Navy.

Originally from Palmdale in Southern California, Evans enlisted in the Navy in 2010 and was commissioned in 2014. She first reported to Electronic Attack Squadron 130 in September 2023 and had been stationed on Whidbey Island since 2016. Her Naval call sign was "Miley."

Evans had been a student of the Naval Aviation School in Pensacola, Fla., and was awarded the Navy/Marine Corps Commendation Medal, the Combat Action Ribbon for actively participating in a ground or surface combat engagement, and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.

Last year, Evans was part of the all-female team of U.S. Navy aviators who conducted the Super Bowl flyover to mark 50 years of women flying in the Navy.

"I joined the Navy to serve my country," Evans told the Los Angeles Times at the time. "Serving in the Navy means being part of something bigger than yourself."

A Sacramento native, Wileman was commissioned in 2018, and first reported to Electronic Attack Squadron 130 in November 2022. Wileman, who was a student of the Officer Candidate School in Newport, R.I., had been awarded the Navy Unit Commendation Medal and Combat Action Ribbon. Her Naval call sign was "Dug."

She was at the beginning of a promising career, the Navy said. She had met her husband, also a Naval aviator, during flight school, and her goal after the Zappers was to be stationed with or near him. In a 2020 Navy newsletter, she recalled watching the Blue Angels as a child and thinking they were superheroes.

Growler recovery and salvage operation

A Navy EA-18G Growler crashed on a routine training flight from Navy Air Station Whidbey Island crashed on Oct. 15 at approximately 3:23 p.m. near Pear Butte at an elevation of 6,000 feet. Recovery operations are underway.

Evans and Wileman often flew together and were known for their humor and lighthearted spirits, and they helped each other and fellow sailors get through the mental strain of long deployments, according to the Navy.

They were professional and precise, Capt. Marvin Scott, commander of Carrier Air Wing 3, said in the Navy tribute.

"As true leaders in the Growler community, VAQ-130, and across my Air Wing, their contributions cannot be overstated," Scott said. "I could not be more proud to have served with each of them."

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The Mead School Board denounced transgender girls' participation in school sports through a resolution approved unanimously Monday night.

While current state law prevents the district from changing anything, Mead joins other school districts in an effort to bar female transgender athletes from competing in girls sports across Washington schools.

The resolution cites the safety of female athletes and "fairness in competition" motivating their stance against "biological males" playing in "biological female competition categories."

"The Mead School District recognizes the inherent biological and physiological differences that exist between male and female students," the resolution reads. "These differences place male students at an advantage for physical performance in athletic competitions."

The evening meeting at Mead's events complex drew a large crowd, with some compelled to speak on the resolution and others in support of a union bargaining rally that occurred prior to the meeting.

Over a dozen people spoke in support of the resolution, thanking district officials for bringing forth the issue. Speakers addressed safety and fairness, some describing a hopelessness felt by cisgender female athletes who compete against transgender female athletes.

Mead High School graduate Becky Clark was one such speaker. She described competing in girls sports in Mead in an era before Title IX, enacted in 1972 to prevent sex-based discrimination in public school sports.

"When I finished my fight for Title IX, I thought it was all over, that girls were safe," Clark said. "That's no longer the case. Now I have to step up and fight again."

Both state law and Title IX protections list transgender identity as a protected class.

Spokane City Councilman Jonathan Bingle spoke in support of the resolution, as his district on city council slightly overlaps with Mead school district.

"This is about fairness to female athletes," Bingle said, wearing a "protect girls sports"  T-shirt. "It's about making sure that the next generation of young women will compete safely, and their hard work, dedication and talent will be rewarded, not undermined by forces beyond their control."

No one spoke opposed to the resolution.

Reading a statement upon passage, Board Vice President BrieAnne Gray said the resolution wasn't meant to target the students, rather the adults at the regulatory level who implement and enforce policy.

"It is not the children who created these rules, it is the adults who have failed them," Gray read. "It is our job as adults to fix them and protect our female athletes."

Passage doesn't spur any changes to Mead's participation in sports policies. The main governing body for state high school athletics, Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, permits students to play for the team "that is consistent with their gender identity." This means that transgender girls play on girls teams, and transgender boys play on the boys team.

The resolution adds Mead to a list of school districts supporting an effort to amend this WIAA policy, restricting girls' teams to athletes assigned female at birth. Lynden School District in Northwest Washington proposed the initial amendment on Oct. 7, with 13 other school districts in support, according to the district's website. Other supporting districts include Wenatchee's Eastmont, Moses Lake and College Place, near Walla Walla.

Lawmakers from 25 states have proposed restricting transgender participation in athletics in recent years; the first  passed in Idaho  in 2020. This law and others are facing legal challenges; a federal appeals court prevented the Idaho law from going into effect with an outstanding injunction. Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador in July petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review the injunction.

The topic of transgender girls playing sports is gaining attention globally and locally, picking up speed this summer in Washington after a transgender girl from East Valley High School won a state track competition. School administration is supportive of the student and her participation in sports.

For a WIAA amendment to pass, 60% of the association's membership must vote in support of the amendment. There are 53 school administrators representing the association's nine districts included in membership.

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     (c)2024 The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Wash.)

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The Washington State Bar Association has dismissed a grievance filed against former Washington lawmaker Matthew Shea after he was alleged to have planned and participated in political violence, citing "constitutional scrutiny."

The dismissal, which came in February and was later affirmed in May, rested on Shea's freedom of speech and lack of any criminal charges following a 2019 independent investigation spearheaded by the Washington House of Representatives. The 2019 investigation concluded his actions in the armed takeover of an Oregon wildlife refuge in 2016 amounted to "an act of domestic terrorism against the United States." In response, he was stripped of leadership roles in the House and leaders in both parties called for him to resign.

Shea  led a group of lawmakers to the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, where Nevada rancher and anti-government militant Ammon Bundy and other armed protesters were involved in a standoff with federal officials.

Shea said at the time they made the trip to help negotiate a peaceful resolution to the standoff; local officials said they had asked the legislators to stay away. Shea also distributed a four-page manifesto in 2018 titled "Biblical Basis for War," which describes the Christian God as a "warrior," condemns abortion and same-sex marriage, and advocates for killing men who don't subscribe to biblical law.

Washington attorney Robert Shirley filed a grievance with the state bar against Shea shortly after the investigation's report was released. He doesn't know Shea, he said, but felt compelled to file the grievance that accused Shea of violating a lawyer's professional misconduct by "moral turpitude" corruption and disregard of the rule of law.

Nearly five years later, the bar's disciplinary counsel wrote back to Shirley in February that they would be taking no further action.

Shea posted this letter on social media last week, writing the accusations against him were false and "the truth has now caught up" four years later.

"Our country cannot long endure civic debate being replaced with political opponents falsely implying those they disagree with are criminals, terrorists or worse," Shea wrote. "I do not harbor bitterness and I forgive those who tried to destroy me."

Shea did not respond to requests for comment Monday.

In the grievance, Shirley cites the investigation's report and alleges three things he attributes to disregarding the rule of law: that Shea spoke in support of defying a federal court order in 2014 from the Bureau of Land Management, which led to a standoff in Bunkerville, Nevada; that Shea interfered with the Department of Veterans Affairs to try and prevent them from taking weapons from at-risk patients; and that he participated in at least four events during the Malheur standoff.

Shirley's grievance was deferred three years to allow time for any potential criminal investigation "to come to fruition," the bar's disciplinary counsel wrote. The grievance was opened again last year because enough time had passed without Shea being charged with any crimes, the February dismissal states.

"To the best of our knowledge, no criminal charges have been brought against Shea for any of the conduct described," which would violate the code of conduct, the decision said.

Shea is still practicing, according to the bar's website.

While lawyers are afforded freedom of speech, they have some restrictions based on the code of conduct, the bar wrote.  In this case, Shea's comments weren't inside a courtroom, so "the weight of the state's interest in regulating the legal profession diminishes," the disciplinary counsel wrote, and "we believe it unlikely that an ethics charge based on the (investigation report) would survive the requisite constitutional scrutiny."

But if Shea is ever charged with a crime related to anything described in the investigation's report, the bar will re-open Shirley's grievance, the decision said.

Shirley, unsatisfied with the bar's decision on the matter, appealed earlier this year. In May, the counsel sent back a letter stating they affirmed the former decision and Shirley could not appeal for a second time.

Shirley argues that laws are reviewed and revised all the time — this case should be one of them, he told The Spokesman-Review Monday.

"Is it really within the ethical boundaries of the Rules of Professional Conduct for an attorney to organize an armed mob to interfere with the lawful activities of a federal employee?" he wrote in an email. "The WSBA is letting down the public"

The report from the 2019 investigation into Shea said that leading up to the 2016 occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Shea was among a group of state officials who participated in several "preplanning" phone calls with Bundy. Shea was operating as chairman of the Coalition of Western States, a group that included lawmakers from several other states, according to previous Spokesman-Review reporting. The report also described how Shea "authored and circulated an operations plan" for militia members to use during the standoff and how he sent one of his most trusted associates to participate.

The Washington State Bar Association also did not respond to requests for comment Monday.

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     (c)2024 The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Wash.)

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Nearly two-thirds of Washingtonians are concerned about politically motivated violence following this year's elections, a new poll found.

A similar proportion worry that election disputes would delay the certification of results.

The statewide WA Poll, which surveyed 1,000 Washingtonians Oct. 9-14, also found that concerns over violence, and trust in public officials and institutions to resolve any disputes, differ by party affiliation.

For instance, 7 in 10 respondents who identify as Democrats said they are very or somewhat concerned about post election violence. About half of Republicans are concerned.

At the same time, two-thirds of Republicans have "some" or "great" confidence in the U.S. Supreme Court to resolve election disputes. Among Democrats, 40% have no confidence in the nation's highest court on the matter.

Uneasiness among voters comes during a time of increasingly strident rhetoric from both major presidential candidates.

At a town hall in Pennsylvania last week, former President Donald Trump described Democrats as the "enemy from within" and suggested he would use the military against Americans who oppose him.

"They are so bad and frankly, they're evil," Trump said, adding that he believed Democrats had "weaponized our elections."

At a rally in Erie, Pa., this month, Vice President Kamala Harris said Trump was "unstable and unhinged" and "out for unchecked power. That's what he's looking for."

The backdrop to all of this is Trump's refusal to accept the result of the 2020 presidential election and his promotion of conspiracy theories, which manifested in a pro-Trump mob attacking the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in an attempt to stop the certification of election results.

Reflecting the partisan divide on violence, voters with more liberal concerns fear an outbreak of violence more than those voting on conservative issues.

Voters whose top issues are abortion, climate change or protecting democracy report being more concerned about violence than those focused on border security, crime or the cost of living, according to the poll.

Among those issues, 43% of respondents who said climate change was their top issue were very concerned about violence, as were 42% of people worried about safeguarding democracy.

Only 11% of people who reported crime as their primary voting concern said the same, and 19% of people looking at border security said the same.

Voter concerns over election violence, disputes

Voters in Washington are worried about the potential for violence during this election, and the ability of public institutions to manage any disputes.

An April 2024 report by the nonpartisan Council on Foreign Relations said there was "serious risk" of election-related violence this year. It noted that the "far-right" was more likely to use force, but that the "possibility of far-left extremist violence cannot be dismissed."

The report called on political leaders to prevent and manage extremism, and warned that election-related violence "threatens individual lives and the domestic political stability of the country."

The report added that any violence following a U.S. election would "embolden autocrats" around the globe, and said the January 2023 violence following the loss of Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro in the capital of Brasília was "inspired" by Trump and Jan. 6.

Though a disputed, potentially violent election is on the minds of most state voters, a majority believe public institutions can deal with it.

Almost half of the poll's respondents said they have "some confidence" that state or local election officials, or state courts, can resolve the situation, and nearly a quarter have "great confidence" they can.

Just 18% of the poll's respondents said they have no confidence that state or local election officials, or state courts, can deal with a disputed vote.

Trust in public institutions wanes when looking at federal courts, which 24% of respondents said they had no confidence in, and the U.S. Supreme Court, which a third of respondents reported no confidence in.

Generally, Democrats said they had more confidence in local and state officials, state courts and federal courts than Republicans. Washington is considered one of the bluest states in the nation, where election officials and judges are elected.

Republicans reported greater certainty in the Supreme Court, which has taken a conservative turn, notably on the topic of abortion. Trump successfully appointed three justices during his term in office.

Illegal voting

On another topic, Washingtonians were evenly split on whether noncitizens vote illegally in U.S. elections.

The poll found that 47% of respondents were "not very" or "not concerned at all" about such illegal voting. Another 46% said they were "very" or "somewhat" concerned.

Almost half of people said they believed that such illegal voting happened "regularly" or "occasionally," 37% said they thought it "almost never" happened and 14% were unsure.

It is illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections. The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 prohibited voting by noncitizens, and punishment for doing so includes a year in prison, fines and possible deportation.

According to the Washington Secretary of State's Office, only U.S. citizens can register to vote in Washington.

According to a November 2020 article by the Cato Institute, a conservative think tank, noncitizens "don't illegally vote in detectable numbers."

A tally by the Heritage Foundation, another conservative think tank, found 102 instances of illegal voting by noncitizens between 1999 and 2023. Nineteen instance occurred from 2020 to 2023.

As with the questions about violence and dispute resolution, the results shifted depending on party identity.

Republicans were much more likely to be concerned about illegal voting by noncitizens and of the belief it happened frequently. Democrats generally were not.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, 85% of those polled who said border security was their top issue said they were very concerned about illegal voting, and another 7% said they were somewhat concerned. And 90% of these voters believed such voting regularly or occasionally took place.

The poll is sponsored by The Seattle Times, KING 5 and the University of Washington's Center for an Informed Public. The margin of error for questions about disputed elections and illegal voting is plus or minus 4.2 percentage points.

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A 37-year-old Olympia man accused of attempting to kill his parents with a sword is being held in the Thurston County jail in lieu of $2 million bail.

Johnathan Daniel Beacon attended his preliminary appearance in Thurston County Superior Court Friday afternoon. He's been accused of two counts of second-degree attempted murder and one count of resisting arrest.

Olympia officers arrested Beacon Wednesday evening at a home on the 3500 block of Merryman Place Southeast, which is near LBA Park. Police Lt. Paul Lower said officers responded to a 911 call and forced their way into the home after hearing screaming. He described what the officers saw as a "horrifying scene."

First responders transported Beacon's mother to Providence St. Peter Hospital while his father was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. Lower said both of them were in critical condition after suffering multiple stab wounds.

Beacon appeared in court virtually from the county jail. He wore a smock and restraints on his arms and legs. Correctional staff requested he be restrained due to safety concerns, according to court records.

In a declaration filed with the court, a deputy said Beacon refused to follow orders to be booked into the jail for over 24 hours and had been refusing to eat or drink since being brought into custody.

"Arresting officers passed on information to jail staff that Mr. Beacon had told them his goal is to assault correction staff and escape," the deputy said. "Mr. Beacon told arresting officers that he had nothing to lose, so he was going to try to escape."

Judge Anne Egeler allowed the use of restraints during Friday's hearing. She later set bail at $2 million, saying it was necessary to assure his presence at the next court hearing. Additionally, Egeler said there was a substantial danger Beacon may commit a violent crime or intimidate a witness before trial.

Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Elizabeth McMullen asked the court to set bail at $2 million after sharing that she had reviewed officer video from the scene.

"I've had the chance to review the body camera footage of the initial entry into the home and into the bedroom where this incident, at least in part, occurred, and it is disturbing to say the least, the things that you can see and hear," McMullen said.

Defense attorney Diana Wildland sat in a county jail booth with Beacon. She asked the court to allow his restraints to be removed and set bail at a lower amount.

"My client is indigent," Wildland said. "He is entitled to reasonable bail. These are mere allegations at this point, not a conviction, of course, as the court is well aware."

With respect to his restraints, Wildland said her client has not had any kind of behavioral issues since he's been in jail.

The investigation

A probable cause statement describes the investigation into the Oct. 16 incident from the perspective of law enforcement.

Officers responded to the home at about 8:15 a.m. after dispatch received a suspicious 911 call in which screaming and cursing could be heard in the background, according to the statement.

The first officers who arrived at the scene forced their way inside and into a master bedroom where the screaming was coming from. They reported seeing Beacon kneeling next to his parents, both 72, while holding a "knife," the statement says.

The parents were on the floor, bleeding profusely from multiple stab wounds. Officers ordered Beacon to drop his weapon and he initially complied, but they reported he began resisting when officers attempted to arrest him.

A sergeant used a taser on Beacon and he was "ultimately detained," according to the statement.

The statement does not use the word "sword." However, Lower said multiple officers noted the use of a sword in their reports about the incident.

When reached for comment, Tara Tsehlana, spokesperson for the Prosecuting Attorney's Office, told The Olympian Beacon wielded a knife and a katana, a Japanese sword.

Immediately after detaining Beacon, officers treated his parents who were lying in "massive pools of blood and screaming in pain."

"Officers provided lifesaving first aid in the form of tourniquets, chest seals, and pressure bandages to slow the large amount of blood loss," the statement reads.

Medics arrived to treat the wounded parents and officers removed Beacon from the scene and transported him to the Olympia Police Station.

At the station, Beacon allegedly called the officers and detectives "cowards" and said he would not follow rules, according to the statement. He also allegedly said he did not speak "pig Latin."

Once at the hospital, Beacon's mother allegedly told police that Beacon became "agitated in an argument" with his father before the stabbing began. She told police the argument started when Beacon's father asked him to turn down some music, according to the statement.

Beacon initially used a knife before grabbing a pellet gun and a katana, according to the statement and Tsehlana. He allegedly screamed, "You ruined my life and I hate you."

The statement indicates Beacon's father spoke to a firefighter in a brief moment of consciousness. He reportedly said he had gotten into a fight with his son.

Beacon is due back in court at 9 a.m. Oct. 29 for his arraignment hearing.

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