Mountlake Terrace Police close to filing charges in serial crow killings

Mountlake Terrace Police said they’re finally on track to catch the person who’s been shooting crows and then leaving them around town.

According to social media posts, as many as 75 crows have been killed. That’s quadruple the number of possible cases than in February.

Some of the cases happened near park playgrounds, causing worry that children would be accidentally shot.

“Someone that’s going to drive around town and indiscriminately shoot wildlife, that’s a red flag to us,” said Chief Pete Caw, Mountlake Terrace Police. “If they’re willing to do that, what does that behavior escalate to in a month, a year, or five years?”

With community safety in mind, police ramped up their efforts to find the so-called crow killer.

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Making this case unique is that officers openly published a list of all the evidence they had in the shootings.

“The idea was that if we let (the suspect) know what he was doing and who he was, (the shootings) would stop, and that was the important thing,” Chief Caw told KIRO 7, adding that security video helped police to track down a possible suspect.

Inside the man’s truck, officers said they found shell casings and other possible evidence.

“That just solidified our suspicion we had the right fellow,” said Chief Caw.

In the weeks since, police said all the crow killings have stopped.

Officers are now working with wildlife officials on possible charges in the killing of so many crows.

As for the suspect’s identity, police told KIRO 7 they are not saying who he is since that man hasn’t been formally charged yet.

Written by KIRO 7 reporter Ryan Simms