Man charged with assault in random shooting on Seattle freeway

SEATTLE (AP) — A 44-year-old man accused of indiscriminately firing at vehicles on Interstate 5 south of Seattle, wounding six people, including one seriously, has been charged with five counts of assault, King County prosecutors said Thursday.

The Washington State Patrol reports that Eric Jerome Perkins fired shots at three cars traveling north on I-5 around 8:30 p.m. Monday and then shot at three more vehicles traveling south several hours later. People in all but one of the cars were injured. He is being held in the King County Jail on $1 million bail and is scheduled to go to trial on September 19.

“The defendant indiscriminately fired at multiple vehicles while driving on busy highways in the Seattle and Tacoma areas,” Assistant District Attorney Stephen Herschkowitz said in his motion for a high bail amount. “He is responsible for causing several of the victims to suffer life-threatening injuries.”

Perkins has a previous criminal history in California, including two convictions for burglary, two convictions for receiving stolen goods and one count of threatening with intent to terrorize and obstruct, Herschkowitz said.

Messages seeking comment to the King County Department of Public Defense were not immediately returned.

Perkins claimed that people were “stealing his identity, making threats and stalking him,” so he “took matters into his own hands” and shot at cars to get them to “back away,” Detective Russell Haake of the Washington State Patrol said in a court document.

Perkins told Officer Kameron Watts he tried to get help from the Tacoma and Fircrest police departments, but when that was unsuccessful, he feared for his life and borrowed a Glock 40 pistol from a friend, the filing states. He told the officer he shot at the cars because they were trying to corner him.

The first victim was driving a 2022 Tesla north on I-5 on Monday evening when he noticed a white 2001 Volvo with California license plates moving erratically. He called 911, but the Volvo driver fired two shots into a rear door, hitting a female passenger in the upper body, causing serious injuries.

Shortly afterward, another driver reported hearing two bangs before the man's window shattered, leaving the man's wife with cuts. A third driver called 911 a minute later and said he heard two gunshots and his passenger was struck by a bullet in the lower back. He was taken to the hospital.

Two hours later, the Volvo driver fired into the passenger door of a 2022 Kia carrying three adults and two children, Haake said. The bullet struck two of the adults in the legs. A few minutes later, another person called state police and said someone had shot them, breaking their side windows. At 11:01 p.m., another Tesla driver reported being shot in the neck.

At around 12:40 a.m. Tuesday, officers found the Volvo and arrested Perkins without incident. They found a handgun between the center console and the passenger seat, the detective said.