The bodies of Skagit County Sheriff’s Deputy Anne Jackson and several other homicide victims rested in Alger overnight under the sharp eyes of law enforcement as they protected the integrity of several crime scenes and kept watch over one of their own.

On Wednesday morning, the tedious task of processing crime scenes — seven of them — began.

In the evening, shortly after Jackson’s body was escorted by a blocks-long procession of police cars and motorcycles to a local funeral home, investigators described the enormous task they faced to unravel what happened Tuesday afternoon when six people were slain and four others wounded.

“What is a mystery to us — and I’m sure to you all — is what exactly happened in this neighborhood,” said Everett Police Sgt. Robert Goetz, spokesman for the multi-jurisdictional investigation.

To investigate what law enforcement authorities have described as an “unprecedented” incident, more than 100 officers and crime-scene technicians from 15 agencies spent Wednesday gathering evidence.

Jackson’s death was the first grim discovery Tuesday afternoon in what authorities say appears to be a rampage at the hands of a mentally disturbed man who was arrested after a high-speed chase south on Interstate 5.

Isaac L. Zamora, 28, of Alger is being held in the Snohomish County Jail on investigation of six counts of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted first-degree murder in lieu of $5 million bail.

One question on many people’s minds remains unanswered: How did a mentally ill man with a felony record get his hands on a gun?

“That is a question that we all want to find out,” Goetz said. “That’s part of the investigation our detectives will be working on. The answer to those questions may only be answered by the suspect.”

Zamora appeared in Skagit County District Court on Wednesday afternoon for a hearing in which a judge determined there was enough evidence to hold him on investigation. Formal charges must be filed by Friday to continue holding him.

As Zamora, wearing an orange jail jumpsuit and chains on his wrists and ankles, entered the courtroom in downtown Mount Vernon, the clicks of numerous news camera shutters was the only real sound in an otherwise quiet room.

Zamora declined to sign court documents and said nothing in response to Judge David Svaren’s routine questions. The judge began the process to assign Zamora a public defender.

Reached by phone Tuesday evening, Dennise Zamora, the suspect’s mother, said that her son was severely mentally ill, but that she and his father had been unsuccessful in getting him help. She said that state laws prevented the family from having her son involuntarily committed for psychiatric evaluation and treatment because he hadn’t been deemed a danger to himself or others. She offered her family’s “deepest condolences” for the victims.

Law enforcement’s first hint of trouble came Tuesday, when two 911 callers — on Silver Creek Drive and Bridle Place — reported a trespasser in the area, said Goetz, of the Snohomish Count Multiple Agency Response Team.

To piece the story together, investigators are combing through seven homes and yards, some as big as 5 acres, in Alger to find evidence, Goetz said.

“They are going though all these lots methodically, not just the homes, from corner to corner,” Goetz said.

Officers also impounded several vehicles. But they will be searched after investigators finish their work in Alger, Goetz said.

Investigators removed two more bodies from the scene Wednesday afternoon and said they expected the bodies of other victims would be removed by this evening from the locations where they had fallen. Until that time, access to those locations is being blocked.

Goetz said the reason the bodies remained in place is all the evidence must be gathered and the crime scenes photographed and measured before the victims are moved. The information will be used for the prosecution’s case, as well as to help explain what happened.

“The hold-up is simply the complexity of case,” he said.

Zamora’s mother was one of the initial 911 callers around 2:19 p.m. Tuesday, though Goetz said investigators don’t know of any crime her son committed at her home. The second 911 call came from the home where Jackson and a second body were found.

Authorities aren’t releasing information on weapons used in the slayings and assaults, beyond saying that they have recovered Jackson’s gun.

They also have only released the manner of death of Jackson and a motorist, who were both shot in separate locations. However, at least one firearm and an object used to stab one of the wounded were used in the attack.

“Frankly, we don’t know what weapon may have been used,” Goetz said.

Forensic pathologists will gather evidence from the bodies during the autopsies. Comparisons likely will be conducted at the State Patrol’s Crime Lab.

Goetz said authorities hope that witness statements and evidence gathered by the investigation team will offer a clearer picture of events.

“We don’t know, at this point, how (the shooter) arrived, how he moved around, whether he went on foot, where he went first,” Goetz said. “We don’t know yet if he tried to break into other houses and was unsuccessful.”

Investigators will return to their task at first light today in hopes of finishing the evidence-gathering phase of the investigation.

“We’ll focus on the Silver Creek neighborhood,” Goetz said.

Marta Murvosh can be reached at 360-416-2149 or .


Authorities have pieced together a rough timeline of Tuesday’s events:

At 2:19 p.m., two 911 calls were made, from 19887 Silver Creek Drive and from 19342 Bridle Place in Alger.

At 2:50 p.m., Deputy Anne Jackson arrived in the neighborhood. It isn’t clear whether deputies were already en route to back her up or were dispatched later.

At 4:10 p.m. deputies, whose identities were not released, reported being under fire at 19342 Bridle Place. Back-up arrived and found Jackson’s body and the body of a male, whose identity has not been confirmed.

About the same time, a 37-year-old motorcyclist from Bow rolled into the Alger Shell Station at 1454 Lake Samish Road, reporting to authorities he’d been shot in the arm.

Minutes later, State Patrol Trooper Troy Giddings located the suspect vehicle, a metallic tan GMC pickup racing south on Interstate 5.

At 4:17 p.m., Giddings radioed that he was under fire, the driver apparently shooting out the pickup’s window. Near the Bow Hill rest stop, the trooper was hit in the arm and pulled out of the high-speed chase, driving himself to another area hospital where he was treated and sent home. Other troopers and deputies, with Mount Vernon police officers joining in, continued the pursuit, reaching speeds of 90 mph. The truck got off the interstate at Kincaid Street, turning right, and then right again, into the Skagit County Sheriff’s Office north parking lot.

At 4:22 p.m., troopers and sheriff’s deputies arrested Zamora without further incident.

Also at 4:22 p.m., another 911 caller reported what appeared to be a single-vehicle crash on southbound I-5, near the Bow Hill rest stop. Investigators discovered Leroy Lange, 64, of Methow, dead of a gunshot wound.

At 5 p.m., a homeowner returned to 19522 Silver Creek Drive in Alger to discover the bodies of two construction workers. The men’s names have not been released officially, but friends and family told the Skagit Valley Herald that they are David Radcliffe, 58, of Clear Lake and Glen Gillum, 38, of Mount Vernon.

Authorities began to conduct a house-to-house search of the area of the initial calls and shooting and at 5:19 p.m. deputies found the body of a 48-year-old woman at 19526 Silver Creek Drive, Goetz said.

A 56-year-old man, believed to be her husband, was wounded and drove to 19468 Silver Creek Drive, seeking help. The time wasn’t available. On Wednesday night, he remained at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Bellingham, where he was treated for nonlife-threatening wounds.

A 61-year-old Alger man, suffering from at least two stab wounds in the chest, was located at 19182 Silver Creek. He was taken to a local hospital where he was treated and released. The time he was located wasn’t available.


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