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Man charged with assault in random shootings on Seattle freeway

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Man charged with assault in random shootings on Seattle freeway
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Man charged with assault in random shootings on Seattle freeway

2024-09-06 04:49 Last Updated At:04:50

SEATTLE (AP) — A 44-year-old man accused of randomly shooting at vehicles on Interstate 5 south of Seattle, injuring six people including one critically, was charged with five counts of assault, King County prosecutors said Thursday.

The Washington State Patrol says Eric Jerome Perkins shot at three cars driving north on I-5 at around 8:30 p.m. Monday, and at three more vehicles heading south several hours later. People in all but one of the cars were injured. He's being held in the King County jail on a $1 million bail and is scheduled for arraignment on Sept. 19.

“The defendant fired indiscriminately at multiple vehicles as he drove the busy freeways in the Seattle and Tacoma areas,” Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Stephen Herschkowitz said in his request for a high bail. “He is responsible for causing several of the victims to sustain critical, life-threatening injuries."

Perkins has a criminal history in California that includes two burglary convictions, two receiving stolen goods convictions and one count of threatening with intent to terrorize and obstruct, Herschkowitz said.

Messages left with the King County Department of Public Defense seeking comment were not immediately returned.

Perkins claimed that people were “stealing his identity, making threats and following him,” so he “took matters into his own hands” and shot at cars to get them to “back off,” Washington State Patrol Detective Russell Haake said in a court filing.

Perkins told Trooper Kameron Watts that he tried to get help from the Tacoma and Fircrest police departments, but when that failed, he feared for his life and borrowed a Glock 40 handgun from a friend, the filing said. He told the trooper that he shot at the cars because they were trying to box him in.

The first victim was driving a 2022 Tesla northbound on I-5 Monday night when he noticed a white 2001 Volvo with California plates moving erratically. He called 911 but the Volvo driver fired two shots into a rear door, striking a passenger in the torso, critically injuring her.

Soon after, another driver reported hearing two pops before their window shattered, cutting the man's wife. A third driver called 911 a minute later saying he heard two shots and that his passenger had been struck by a bullet in the lower back. He was taken to the hospital.

Two hours later, the Volvo driver shot into the passenger door of a 2022 Kia carrying three adults and two children, Haake said. The bullet struck two of the adults in the leg. A few minutes later, another person called the state patrol to say someone had shot at her, breaking her side windows. At 11:01 p.m., another Tesla driver reported being shot in the neck.

At about 12:40 a.m. Tuesday, officers located the Volvo and took Perkins into custody without incident. They found a handgun between the center console and front passenger seat, the detective said.

Man charged with assault in random shootings on Seattle freeway

Man charged with assault in random shootings on Seattle freeway

Man charged with assault in random shootings on Seattle freeway

Man charged with assault in random shootings on Seattle freeway

This image made from body camera footage provided by the Pierce County, Wash., Sheriff's Department shows a suspect wanted in a series of shootings along Interstate 5 in Washington state the day prior as they surrender to deputies early on Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024. (Pierce County Sheriff's Department via AP)

This image made from body camera footage provided by the Pierce County, Wash., Sheriff's Department shows a suspect wanted in a series of shootings along Interstate 5 in Washington state the day prior as they surrender to deputies early on Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024. (Pierce County Sheriff's Department via AP)

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San Francisco’s first Black female mayor concedes to Levi Strauss heir

2024-11-08 09:39 Last Updated At:09:40

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — San Francisco’s first Black female mayor, London Breed, conceded the race for mayor to Levi Strauss heir Daniel Lurie on Thursday, pledging a smooth transition as he takes over the job.

The Associated Press has not called the race.

Breed, who was raised by her grandmother in public housing, could not overcome deep voter discontent and lost to anti-poverty nonprofit founder Daniel Lurie.

“At the end of the day, this job is bigger than any one person and what matters is that we keep moving this City forward,” Breed said, adding that she had called Lurie to congratulate him. “I know we are both committed to improving this City we love.”

While San Francisco’s streets have been cleaner and homeless tents much harder to find in recent months, Breed’s fellow Democratic challengers on the campaign trail repeatedly hammered her administration for doing too little, too late as homeless tent encampments, open-air drug use and brazen retail theft proliferated during her six years in office.

Voters flocked to Lurie, 47, a city native from a storied family who pledged to bring accountability and public service back to City Hall. He is the founder of anti-poverty nonprofit Tipping Point Community, which says it has invested more than $400 million since 2005 in programs to help people with housing, education and early childhood.

“I’m deeply grateful to my incredible family, campaign team and every San Franciscan who voted for accountability, service, and change,” Lurie said in a statement. “No matter who you supported in this election, we stand united in the fight for San Francisco’s future and a safer and more affordable city for all.”

Lurie pumped nearly $9 million of his own money into his first-time bid for mayor, which drew criticism from Breed and other opponents. But he said that as a political outsider, he needed to introduce himself to voters and in the end, some voters said they liked that Lurie’s financial wealth shielded him from being beholden to special interests.

Lurie is an heir to the Levi Strauss & Co. fortune through his mother, Mimi Haas, who wed Peter Haas when Daniel was a child. Peter Haas, a great-grandnephew of Levi Strauss, was a longtime CEO of the iconic clothing company who died in 2005.

Both the Levi’s name and Haas family philanthropic foundations are deeply embedded in San Francisco’s history and identity.

Lurie’s father, Brian Lurie, is a rabbi and longtime former executive director of the San Francisco-based Jewish Community Federation.

Breed won election as mayor in June 2018 to serve out the remainder of Mayor Ed Lee’s term.

She was reelected in 2019 to a full term that has lasted five years instead of the typical four, after voters changed the election calendar to line up with presidential contests.

Mayor London Breed speaks during an election night watch party at Little Skillet in San Francisco on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (Gabrielle Lurie/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Mayor London Breed speaks during an election night watch party at Little Skillet in San Francisco on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (Gabrielle Lurie/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

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