Docs: Man killed in road-rage shooting after trying to slow cars down for crossing deer

SNOHOMISH COUNTY, Wash. - A man shot dead in Snohomish County was trying to slow cars down to save the lives of deer crossing the road, according to court documents.

According to probable cause documents filed in Snohomish County, the victim's wife called 911 at 7:45 p.m. on Sept. 7 to report that her husband had just been shot.

The woman told deputies that she and her husband had gone out to the road to slow down traffic on S. Machias Rd. to help some deer safely cross the road. She said they were waving at cars to slow them down because cars often speed on this road. This area is just southwest of Doc’s Riverside Taphouse.

She told investigators that she heard a pop and turned around to see her husband laying in the driveway of their home and had been shot.

The woman said she saw a green Jeep and a black sedan driving away, and a man with a gun with a laser-mounted on top of it.

Detectives found video 0.1 and 0.4 miles away at businesses that matched the vehicles as described.

Several witnesses started life-saving measures on the man, but he died at the scene. The Washington State Department of Corrections told FOX 13 that the victim was a correctional officer at Monroe Correctional Complex.

Documents say the victim sustained one gunshot wound to the chest.

On Sept. 8 at 2:30 p.m., an off-duty deputy spotted a car matching the description provided in a sheriff's office bulletin. Deputies and a Lake Stevens officer responded and took the suspect into custody.

Probable cause documents say that the suspect admitted to shooting someone, saying that the man in the road was yelling at the Jeep and hit it with his hands. He said he grabbed his gun because he was scared. He said he fired one shot to scare the man and woman and claimed that he did not know if he hit the victim.

The suspect is being held in the Snohomish County Jail on $500,000 bail. Charges are pending.