It was barely light out on Fleming Street when the sirens finally stopped. For residents in this quiet pocket of Everett, the morning of January 2, 2026, didn’t start with coffee or an alarm clock. It started with gunfire. A high-speed chase that had zig-zagged across multiple counties ended right there, in a driveway, with a suspect dead and a neighborhood left wondering how a domestic dispute in another county ended up on their doorstep.
Honestly, when people talk about a shooting in Everett Washington, they often treat it as a single, isolated headline. But it’s never that simple. These incidents are usually the tail end of a much longer, messier story that involves regional police coordination, mental health crises, or specific disputes that just happened to boil over within city limits.
The Fleming Street Incident: A Multi-County Breakdown
What happened on Fleming Street wasn't just an Everett problem. It was a regional catastrophe. The whole thing kicked off at 6:00 PM on New Year’s Day over in Clinton, Island County. A 38-year-old man from Oak Harbor allegedly shot at officers during a domestic dispute call before vanishing into the woods.
Think about that for a second.
He was on the move for nearly twelve hours. During that window, he reportedly kidnapped a 64-year-old man in Oak Harbor, forced him to drive to Burlington, and eventually shot another driver to steal their car. By the time the shooting in Everett Washington occurred around 4:48 AM on Friday, law enforcement from four different agencies—Washington State Patrol, Arlington Police, Sedro-Woolley, and Skagit County—were all in pursuit.
The Snohomish County Multiple Agency Response Team (SMART) is now handling the investigation. This is standard protocol. When an officer fires a weapon, an independent team has to step in to make sure everything was by the book. According to SMART spokesperson Natalie Given, officers tried "less lethal" options first. It didn't work. The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene, ending a crime spree that covered three counties and left a trail of traumatized witnesses.
Why Location Matters in Everett
Everett is a hub. Because it sits right on the I-5 corridor and serves as the seat of Snohomish County, it often becomes the catch-basin for incidents that start elsewhere. You've got the Casino Road area, which frequently gets a bad rap in local Facebook groups, but then you have high-profile incidents happening in supposedly "safe" residential zones like Fleming Street or Grand Avenue.
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In November 2025, a different kind of tragedy hit the 2600 block of Grand Avenue. This wasn't a police chase. It was a daytime murder at a residence. Everett Police Major Crimes detectives eventually tracked down a suspect a week later, but it left the community rattled. It’s those daytime incidents that really mess with people's heads. You expect trouble at 2:00 AM outside a bar; you don't expect it while you're taking the trash out on a Tuesday afternoon.
The Real Numbers: Is Crime Actually Rising?
If you look at the raw data from the Snohomish County Crime Dashboard, the narrative of a "city under siege" doesn't quite hold up, though the numbers are still sobering. In 2025, Everett saw a significant drop in homicides—only 2 compared to 13 the previous year. That’s a massive swing.
However, assault cases stayed relatively high at 326 for the year.
Basically, while "fatal" shootings might be down, the presence of firearms in disputes—what police call "shots fired" incidents—remains a persistent headache for the Everett PD. Often, these involve what detectives call "known parties." Like the August 2024 shooting on West Casino Road that left four people injured; investigators quickly realized the people involved knew each other. It wasn't a random attack on the public. It was a beef that turned violent.
The "Illegal Gun Sale" Factor
There is a specific pattern that local detectives, like those in the Major Crimes Unit, keep seeing. It’s the "robbery disguised as a transaction."
Take the shooting at Everett Avenue and Rucker Avenue. An 18-year-old and a 16-year-old were involved in what was supposed to be a gun sale. Instead, the buyer tried to rob the seller. 15 shots were fired. 19-year-old Tyverius Walburn lost his life. When you hear about a shooting in Everett Washington in a parking lot, nine times out of ten, it’s a situation like this where a "deal" went south.
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How the Community Responds
Lockdowns are becoming a strange part of the local rhythm. During that Rucker Avenue incident, Everett Community College and Whittier Elementary went into a two-hour lockdown.
It’s a weird thing to get used to.
Parents get the text alerts, the kids stay under the desks, and the police sweep the perimeter. But the police are also trying other things. They’re using FLOCK camera systems—license plate readers—to track suspects in real-time. It’s how they’ve managed to make arrests in cases that would have gone cold a decade ago.
And then there's the SMART team. Washington law (LETSCA) now requires civilian community members to be part of the investigation team for police shootings. It's an attempt to build back some of that lost trust. Whether it's working depends on who you ask in the North Everett neighborhoods, but the transparency is at least higher than it used to be.
Identifying the Risks
If you live in or are visiting Everett, the risks aren't usually from "random" violence. The data suggests most firearm incidents are tied to:
- Domestic violence escalations (like the Fleming St incident).
- Illegal secondary market sales (parking lot "meetups").
- Targeted disputes between specific social networks.
Actionable Steps for Residents
Staying safe in an urban environment like Everett involves a mix of digital awareness and physical common sense. You've got to know what's happening around you without letting the "doom-scrolling" take over.
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Monitor Real-Time Alerts
Don't wait for the evening news. The Everett Police Department is surprisingly active on their "News Flash" page on the city website. Most major incidents, including lockdowns or road closures due to a shooting in Everett Washington, are posted there within hours.
Use the Tip Line
Police rely heavily on community footage. If you have a Ring camera or similar device and an incident happens nearby, don't wait for a knock. The Everett PD Tip Line at (425) 257-8450 is the direct route to the Major Crimes Unit.
Understand the "Safe Exchange" Zones
If you are buying or selling anything—even something as harmless as a lawnmower—do not do it in a random parking lot at night. Use the designated "Safe Exchange Zones" at local police precincts. These areas are under 24/7 high-resolution surveillance and significantly deter the kind of robbery-shootings seen at Rucker Avenue.
Engage with SMART Reports
If you’re concerned about police conduct, follow the Snohomish County SMART website. They post weekly updates on every officer-involved shooting investigation. It’s the most direct way to see the evidence as it’s processed, rather than relying on neighborhood rumors.
The reality of Everett is that it's a city in transition. It’s dealing with the same growth pains and "big city" problems as Seattle or Tacoma, but on a smaller, more intimate scale. Understanding the context behind the headlines—like knowing that a midnight pursuit often starts miles outside city limits—is the first step in accurately gauging the safety of the community.