2008 Skagit County Shootings
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On September 2, 2008, 28-year-old Isaac Zamora killed six people (including one sheriff's deputy) and wounded two more on a shooting rampage in
Skagit County Skagit County is a county in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, the population was 129,523. The county seat and largest city is Mount Vernon. The county was formed in 1883 from Whatcom County and is named for the Upper and ...
, Washington, United States. The incident began when Skagit County Sheriff's Deputy Anne Jackson responded to a call at Zamora's home in Alger. Zamora shot Jackson and then left the residence. He shot seven additional people and led authorities on a high-speed chase along
Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels thro ...
before surrendering at the Skagit County Sheriff's Office in
Mount Vernon, Washington Mount Vernon is the county seat of and the most populous city in Skagit County, Washington, United States. A central location in the Skagit River Valley, the city is located south of the U.S.–Canada border and north of Seattle. The popul ...
.


Shooting

On the evening of September 2,
Alger, Washington Alger is a census-designated place (CDP) in Skagit County, Washington, United States. The population was 507 at the 2020 census. It is included in the Mount Vernon–Anacortes, Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area. Alger is located alo ...
, resident Isaac Zamora had gone into a neighbor's house, stealing their rifle and shotgun. Isaac Zamora's mother, Dennise Zamora, called police around 2:15 p.m. in response to the trespassing.
Skagit County Skagit County is a county in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, the population was 129,523. The county seat and largest city is Mount Vernon. The county was formed in 1883 from Whatcom County and is named for the Upper and ...
Sheriff's Deputy Anne Jackson arrived to the scene, where Isaac Zamora shot and killed her. Deputies responded to reports of gunfire, and they arrived to find Jackson and another person dead at the scene. Zamora killed three other people and wounded 2 others in Alger. After the Alger shootings, Zamora raced south on
Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels thro ...
at speeds near 90 miles per hour while troopers, sheriff's deputies, and
Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is the former residence and plantation of George Washington, a Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States, and his wife, Martha. An American landmar ...
police pursued him. During the chase, Zamora shot Trooper Troy Giddings, who drove himself to a hospital and was released afterwards. A motorcyclist at a Shell gas station was injured after being shot, and another man, Leroy Lange, was killed after being shot while riding south in his SUV. Around 4:30 p.m., Zamora drove into the parking lot of the Skagit County Sheriff's Office in Mount Vernon, where he surrendered. He was arrested and booked in Mount Vernon Jail.


Perpetrator

Isaac Zamora had a history of mental health problems, and a criminal record. Dennise Zamora said Isaac had first experienced mental health issues when their family's house burned down a decade before. He was living in the woods on and off for years, and working as a house painter. He had grown "increasingly despondent" after breaking up with his girlfriend and being injured while painting a house. He then became addicted to
painkillers An analgesic drug, also called simply an analgesic, antalgic, pain reliever, or painkiller, is any member of the group of drugs used for pain management. Analgesics are conceptually distinct from anesthetics, which temporarily reduce, and in so ...
. He moved into a trailer on the Zamora family property in Alger. Dennise said she had tried to get help for Zamora multiple times. Deputy Jackson had tried to help the Zamora family in the past and told Dennise to call her anytime for help. For 6 months in 2008, Zamora had served a jail sentence in the county for felony drug possession. He was released on August 6. As a part of his sentence, after Zamora was released, he was supposed to undergo a mental health evaluation. He couldn't afford one, and his corrections officers were working on getting him one. The corrections officer assigned to Zamora did not know Zamora was keeping guns in his trailer, which would have been an arrestable offense. Zamora's last report to his corrections officer was on August 21.


Aftermath

Washington Governor
Christine Gregoire Christine Gregoire (; née O'Grady; born March 24, 1947) is an American attorney and politician who served as the List of governors of Washington, 22nd governor of Washington, from 2005 to 2013. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), D ...
called for an independent review into how Zamora's criminal cases were handled. At his 2009 trial, Zamora pled guilty to several felony charges, including four counts of aggravated murder, in the shootings, and
not guilty by reason of insanity Not or NOT may also refer to: Language * Not, the general declarative form of "no", indicating a negation of a related statement that usually precedes * ... Not!, a grammatical construction used as a contradiction, popularized in the early 1990 ...
to two additional counts of aggravated murder. Zamora received four life sentences and was subsequently committed to Western State Hospital. In 2012, Zamora was moved to the
Monroe Correctional Complex The Monroe Correctional Complex is a Washington State Department of Corrections men's prison located in Monroe, Washington, United States. With a bed capacity of over 3,100, it is the largest prison in the state. Facility Vocational classes o ...
due to concerns that his presence posed a threat to hospital staff and other patients. As of 2019, Zamora was appealing for a new trial. In 2013, the state of Washington paid $9 million to settle lawsuits from the victims' families who claimed more could have been done to prevent the shooting.


Victims

*Chester Rose, aged 58 *Anne Jackson, aged 40 *Julie Binschus, aged 48 *David Radcliffe, aged 57 *Greg Gillum, aged 38 *Leroy Lange, aged 64 * Richard Treston (Stabbed) * Fred Binschus (Wounded) * Ben Mercado (Wounded) * Troy Giddings (Wounded)


See also

*
List of rampage killers in the United States A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, bu ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skagit County shootings, 2008 2008 murders in the United States Murder in Washington (state) Deaths by firearm in Washington (state) Spree shootings in the United States September 2008 crimes in the United States History of Skagit County, Washington