Dead Man Blamed in Wash Rampage

By TIM KLASS - AP

SEATTLE (AP) - Authorities on Saturday were still trying to understand what sent a man on a killing spree, but first they had to tally the dead and wounded: his mother and nephew stabbed to death, a woman fatally beaten, another woman critically injured, a motorcyclist run over and a sheriff's deputy shot.

Believed to be responsible for it all was 22-year-old Lonnie Davis, who was shot dead by a police sniper after a standoff with police in a northern suburb of Seattle.

Davis had previous run-ins with the law in King County but no known history of violence, Brier Police Chief Gary Minor said.  ``I don't think we're ever going to know what set him off. At this point, we don't have a clue,'' he said. ``We don't know that he had a history of any mental problems.''

It started with the deaths of Davis' mother, Sheila Lindsey, 46, and his sister's son, Kahari Prince, 18 months. The two were stabbed to death with a three-inch paring knife Friday morning, probably around 10 or 11 a.m., Minor said.

The killer changed out of his bloodied jeans and T-shirt and left without washing up.

At about 1:30 p.m., Lindsey's black Honda station wagon swerved into a motorcycle on Interstate 5 in Shoreline, located in King County a few miles south of Brier.

The motorcyclist, Anthony Venegas, 64, was rushed to the hospital and had his leg amputated below the knee.  The car was torn in half and burned. Davis fled on foot into a neighborhood.

Moments later, a resident called 911 when she heard Erma Spence screaming for help.  Spence, 63, was found lying in her yard in a pool of blood, with what looked like a broken posthole digger - a garden tool - near her body. She was pronounced dead at a local hospital.  The man then attacked 82-year-old Irene Hilton in her yard, hitting her with an object and breaking her neck and critically injuring her, police said.

Sheriff's officers say the man then found an empty house that contained a large number of weapons and started firing at officers.  Deputy Diana Russell was hit in the head by flying glass and a ricocheting bullet. She was in serious condition on Saturday.  King County Sheriff Dave Reichert said his officers responded with just the single sniper shot. The officers then fired three rounds of tear gas into the home, at 15 minute intervals, to make sure the man was down, he said.

The sniper's shot was meant to kill, Reichert said.  ``It's a sad thing and it's a tough decision to make,'' he said, ``but in this case it was the right thing to do.'

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