Covington homeowner explains moment he shot alleged car prowler

Twelve hours after non-fatally shooting an armed man prowling his car in the middle of the night, a Covington homeowner is incredibly shaken up at the memory of what happened on his own property, and the horror of what could have happened.

“It’s just a nightmare, I’ll be honest — it’s just an absolute nightmare scenario,” said Patrick, who preferred not to give his last name.

Patrick, who lives alone in a housing development in Covington, woke up just after 2 a.m. Thursday morning when his motion sensor alarm went off. Upon going to the window, he noticed two strange men looking through his car parked in his 100-foot driveway. He had left the car locked, but guessed that the men must have gotten it open with a tool.

“It’s pretty unnerving when you’re looking out your front window and you see two guys out there rifling through your vehicle,” he said to KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson.

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The Covington homeowner didn’t take the time to put on shoes or even a shirt, but he made sure to grab his pistol when he set out to confront the prowlers.

“I surprised them, I caught them completely off-guard,” he said.

He approached the men carrying his pistol — only to find that one of the car prowlers was armed with a pistol as well.

The next series of actions happened within about five seconds.

“As soon as I drew down on him, he ducked in behind my 4Runner — he got in between the garage and the 4Runner — and was crouched down behind the rear passenger wheel,” he described. “And as I peeked around the front of the vehicle, because I lost sight of him for just about one second, I saw him start coming at me. And he took one step and I fired one shot.”

The entire sequence was captured on Patrick’s home surveillance video system. He said that he has watched those seconds in horror over and over again during the past several hours.

“It’s the worst feeling in the world,” Patrick said of the moment he realized he had to shoot. “Your adrenaline is pumping, you’ve got a split second to make a decision.”

After the man fell, Patrick kept an eye on him, with his gun drawn. He was still very much on-guard because the second car prowler had disappeared into the Covington night during the turmoil.

“I was trying to make sure the other guy didn’t flank me because the second guy was still in the area,” Patrick said. “I was looking left, looking right … all I did see was him running down the driveway — he left his buddy there just to bleed out.”

The suspect’s injuries are reportedly quite severe, but he is expected to survive. The King County Sheriff’s Office confirmed Thursday afternoon that it had found a gun on the suspect; between that and the surveillance video, Patrick is not worried about being prosecuted for shooting the man.

“My front door is right next to the car. Do they come to the front door next and check that door to see if it’s something they can get through? Where does it stop?” he said. “There were two of them and one of me … how do you rationally think in that situation? All I know is that I was confronted with a life-or-death situation and I had to act appropriately.”

When Patrick showed his mother the video, she sobbed at the situation into which her son was thrown. Patrick keeps reliving those moments, sick at both the trauma of the memory, and the thought of how much worse it might have turned out.

“The fear factor was just completely off the charts. I hope I’m going to be okay,” he said, adding, “I’m alive today … I don’t know what could have happened, but all I can say is, I thank God that I was able to defend myself.”

Listen to the Dori Monson Show weekday afternoons from 12-3 p.m. on KIRO Radio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

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