Arlington, WA families nearly struck by stray bullets during kids birthday party
Families nearly struck by stray bullets in Arlington, WA
Security cameras captured the terrifying moments when bullets started flying towards an Arlington home, nearly hitting parents, pets and children.
Arlington, wash. - Security cameras captured the terrifying moments when bullets started flying towards an Arlington home, nearly hitting parents, pets and children.
The backstory:
Tim Hand's family had invited the Coker family over for a birthday party from across the street. Security video shows the kids playing in a bounce house and eating ice pops when the shooting began on Saturday at around 2:45 pm.
Security camera footage captures the moment Arlington families ran for cover after stray bullets near hit them during a kids birthday party.
"We assumed it was maybe fireworks gone wrong," said Sara Coker.
However, the gunfire intensified, and the adults realized it wasn't fireworks. A bullet nearly hit the kids and Tim Hand and his wife in the head as they ran to take cover in the house.
"Before you know it, there’s another ‘zing, pop’ right over my wife’s head, hitting my house. Also above the kid’s heads too," said Tim Hand.
Initial confusion turns to panic
"Get in the house now! Run!," you can hear Tim's wife yelling on video.
While the Hand family took cover across the street with three of the children, a bullet crashed through Justin Coker's glass door.
"A gunshot comes through the sliding window and glass goes everywhere in my house," Justin said.
A screen door is covered with a tarp after stray bullets struck it on Saturday. (FOX 13 Seattle)
It left a mark on his computer and came close to not only hitting him, but also nearly hit the Coker family's dog inside the house.
"That’s when I yell and say they’re shooting through the window," said Justin.
His wife, Sara Coker, heard him yelling. She was outside working with her flowers when the shooting happened. She can be seen on the video grabbing her son after he ran over from the Hand's house next door.
She crouched down near their garage wall and door and put her arms around him to protect him. With the bullets coming at the back side of the home, it seemed to shelter them from getting hit.
Security camera footage captures the moment Arlington families ran for cover after stray bullets near hit them during a kids birthday party.
Narrow misses recorded on video
The Coker's house sits nearest the woods where the bullets were coming from and was the hardest hit home. Bullets struck not only the glass door, but the siding, the fence, the kids' trampoline, and even their play set.
Dig deeper:
After calling 911, the families said they were frustrated that the responding deputy told them that the shooters wouldn't be arrested that day or have weapons taken away, leaving the families, including their young children, worried and traumatized.
"We did everything we could to create a safe space for them, and now it’s just unsafe, and the deputy should have removed those firearms because it could happen at any time," said Justin Coker. "My kids have not slept in their bedroom. They sleep with us and, in the morning, they ask if bullets are going to be coming our way. The kids are refusing to play in the backyard because it feels unsafe."
Both families want more to be done.
"The shooting was just ballistic. It didn’t stop," said Sara Coker.
"Divine intervention maybe, but we certainly count our blessings, and we are very fortunate nobody got hurt," said Tim Hand.
What they're saying:
FOX 13 reached out to the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office for more information on the investigation. Spokesperson Courtney O'Keefe sent out the following statement:
"On Saturday, deputies responded to a shots fired call at approximately 2:45 p.m. Deputies responded and discovered neighbors through the woods on 123rd Ave NE were shooting at a target but were missing the target or using a nonsufficient backstop and struck two nearby residences. This occurred in a legal shooting area, however, due to their recklessness, deputies are referring charges of reckless endangerment. This is still an active investigation."
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The Source: Information in this story came from the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office and original FOX 13 Seattle reporting and interviews.