SPU shooting trial enters day 9
Nov 1, 2016, 9:26 AM | Updated: 4:26 pm
Aaron Ybarra was found of first-degree murder and faces more than 100 years in prison. (KIRO 7 screengrab)
(KIRO 7 screengrab)
Accused Seattle Pacific University shooter Aaron Ybarra is on trial for the murder and attempted murder of three people.
Ybarra took the stand in his own defense Monday where he told the courtroom that he heard the voices of God and the Columbine shooter.
Joel Ybarra: Aaron heard the voice of Columbine shooter E Harris tell him "shoot up the University of Washington." #SPUtrial @KIRO7Seattle
— AMY CLANCY (@ClancyKIRO7) October 31, 2016
Ybarra said he didn’t know what he’d done was real “until I was sitting in the backseat of the police car,” KIRO 7 reports. He added that he “didn’t know [the shooting] was a real thing.”
Prosecutors say Ybarra, who is now 29, shot and killed 19-year-old Paul Lee and injured two others on SPU’s campus.
Last week, Ybarra’s mother, Janice, testified, saying her family knew nothing of the campus shootings until a reporter called them about it.
She also said her son, Aaron, had developmental problems while he was growing up.
The defense is trying to prove that Ybarra is not guilty by reason of insanity.
Janice Ybarra said in court that Aaron was familiar with weapons and had worked at the Kenmore Gun Range for years.
“Oh, definitely, he knew how to operate a shotgun, yes,” said Janice Ybarra.
The prosecutors argue that Aaron Ybarra had planned the killings ahead of the shootings in June of 2014.
