9-1-1 recordings released in Arlington police shooting of teen

ARLINGTON – An officer broadcast that a woman was armed with a knife.

He said she was suicidal, was trying to get into a car and disobeying their commands.

Then he called, “Shots fired.” Officials Wednesday released 9-1-1 and police recordings of the early morning shooting Feb. 14 of a 17-year-old girl in downtown Arlington.

The girl was suicidal and armed with a knife when Arlington police shot her after attempts to stop her with a Taser proved ineffective, police say.

These latest details were in audio recordings released by investigators with SMART, the multiagency task force investigating the shooting. The tapes include the initial 9-1-1 call and police and emergency dispatcher radio traffic around the time the shots were fired.

An officer said on the recordings that the girl was hit in the chest and in her lower right side in the groin area.

Officers requested medic units immediately as the girl was unconscious after the shooting.

She remains in serious condition at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, after being upgraded from critical initially.

In the original 9-1-1 call, a woman reported seeing a girl lying “on the stripe in the middle of the road” on Division Street. She was yelling, while crying at other times. The caller said she saw two men who appeared to be associated with the girl walk toward her from two vehicles parked in a lot near Triple Shot Espresso.

The disturbance occurred after a reported altercation between the girl and her 18-year-old boyfriend. Evidence indicates a physical assault occurred prior to the 9-1-1 call, said Aaron Snell, an Everett police officer serving as spokesman for the Snohomish County Multiple Agency Response Team.

In a later 9-1-1 call by the same woman, she reported hearing more screaming, followed by gunshots out of her sight. She said she heard a man repeatedly shouting, “This is your f—-ing fault, you f—-ing did this you piece of s—-.”

The caller said she was unsure who the profanity was aimed at.

Snell said that after officers separated the couple, the girl ran to a black car in a parking lot. Officers followed and told her to step out of the car. Witnesses indicated she exited the vehicle and advanced on officers, who tried unsuccessfully to stop her using a Taser, Snell said.

Two officers both reportedly shot her as she advanced toward them. Both are on administrative leave, as is common practice in such incidents.

About 30 residents attended the City Council meeting Tuesday to show support for police. Some had waved signs at city hall the past week.

However, they kept a silent vigil, and none spoke at the meeting. Several members said they were there to stand by police who protect their community. An opposition group that had said it would attend did not show.

The investigation is ongoing, Snell said, and investigators are asking for other witnesses, video footage and anyone with additional information to call the sheriff’s tip line at 425-388-3845.