Reward offered for info after young eagle shot, killed near Monroe

The search is on for whoever shot and killed a bald eagle in Snohomish County Wednesday. The young bald eagle died overnight and x-rays show a bullet still lodged in its belly.

Tips can be reported to USFWS (425) 883-8122 ext 222 or WDFW (360) 902-2928. The reward is now $5,000.

The Sarvey Wildlife Care Center tried to save the eagle, but couldn’t.

Wednesday, Sarvey got an urgent call before noon.

“A gentleman had heard a shot and seen this eagle fall from the sky in a field,” said Jessie Paolello, a wildlife rehabilitator at Sarvey Wildlife Care Center.

She says she rushed to the field near Monroe, by Highway 2 and Roosevelt Road.

“I went out there and picked it up. I could tell right away the injuries were severe. She was bleeding profusely from her lower abdomen, her belly, and her back,” Paolello said.

A video from Sarvey shows their team working on the eagle before it died, but it didn’t survive the night.

“We did everything we could to stabilize her but the trauma from the gunshot was just too severe. There was nothing anybody could do,” Paolello said.

X-rays show ammunition from a shotgun inside the bird. Paolello says when the eagle fell out of the sky, it fell so hard it also broke an ankle and had a spine injury.

Washington’s Department of Fish and Wildlife is heading the investigation, and working with U.S. Fish and Wildlife.

“It upsets me on a personal level,” said Sgt. Jennifer Maurstad, with Snohomish County Fish and Wildlife. “At this point we don’t have any leads, so that’s why we’re asking for the public’s help.”

Killing an eagle is a state and federal crime.

“This is an offense we take very seriously. It tugs at the heart strings of our citizens,” Maurstad said.

Federally, the penalty for this crime is up to a $10,000 fine or a year in jail.

Sarvey Wildlife showed us what the eagle would’ve looked like had it a chance to grow up, and introduced KIRO 7 to a 10-year-old bald eagle named Freedom on Thursday.

A bald eagle develops a white head and tail by about age three. The bald eagle shot and killed yesterday was only a year old.

“She could’ve lived another 40 years,” Paolello said. “It is a symbol of our country, so it is even more heartbreaking.”

Sarvey Wildlife is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading up to an arrest.

A veteran in Shelton has offered to match that reward.