Man accused of shooting at Arlington neighbor’s house arrested after standoff

ARLINGTON, Wash. — An hours-long standoff ended Thursday morning in Arlington when a SWAT team stormed a home trying to catch an armed man who had holed up inside.

It happened in a remote part of the city along Arnot Road near 233rd Street Northeast.

A woman who lives near the home at the center of the standoff said the man living at the house has been a point of concern for several people living in the area.

“He does shoot quite often. Loud! Loud guns, not like your 4 p.m. fun shooting,” she said.

The woman encountered Snohomish County deputies as they were wrapping up the SWAT operation that ended the standoff. She admits she’s been wary of the neighbor who’s accused of squaring off against deputies.

Courtney O’Keefe, spokesperson for the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office, said that the man who was involved in the standoff is 43 years old and that he was indeed armed when the standoff began.

“He was firing multiple rounds upon arrival. He retreated back inside the residence at that time. Region 1 SWAT did respond to the scene,” said O’Keefe.

O’Keefe said the entire standoff began around 3 a.m. when a different neighbor called 911 to say someone was shooting at their home. When officers arrived, they figured out that the 43-year-old man was the alleged shooter.

He was able to keep deputies at bay until they forced their way into the home around 8 a.m. O’Keefe said the situation did not end when the SWAT team went inside.

“At that time, a nearby witness, possibly a neighbor, called in observing the adult male fleeing from the house on foot. Deputies were able to respond and took the suspect into custody without incident,” she said.

The woman admits the area of Arlington where the standoff occurred is one where many people own guns.

“… it’s not abnormal to hear people shooting, especially on a nice day, the weekend, but (there were) definitely times when it was 11 at night,” she said.

She says the all-hours shooting practice was at best an annoyance and at worst an actual danger.

“Where his shooting range target is, it’s along the road where the kids learned to ride their bikes,” she said.

She’s glad the situation ended peacefully but isn’t totally surprised it happened.

“I feel a little bit better having him gone. Hopefully, he stays gone,” she said.

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