Two families in Arlington are left shaken and frightened after a session of target shooting by neighbors turned their quiet neighborhood into a scene of flying bullets. According to the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office, people shooting at a target through the woods along 123rd Avenue either missed or used an insufficient backstop, sending rounds tearing into two nearby homes and narrowly avoiding tragedy.
The Coker house, which sits nearest the woods, was hit hardest. Bullets struck the siding, the fence, the children's trampoline and even their play set, chewing into the very spaces where the family's kids would normally play. For the residents, the damage was a chilling reminder of how close the gunfire had come to the people living there.
Across the street, the Hand family took cover inside the Coker home as the shooting continued. A bullet crashed through a sliding glass door belonging to Justin, sending shattered glass flying through the house, leaving a mark on his computer and coming dangerously close to hitting the family dog. In the chaos, he shouted a warning that gunfire was coming through the window.
Sarah Coker was outside when the rounds began flying, and video captured the frantic moment she grabbed her young son after he ran over from next door. She crouched down against the garage walls, shielding the boy with her body, later describing how her only thought was to take cover with her child as the bullets kept coming.
After calling 911, the families said they were left frustrated and worried when the responding deputy told them the shooters would not be arrested that day, nor would their firearms be taken away. Living so close to where the gunfire had erupted, the two households said they felt unsafe and traumatized, fearing that the same thing could happen again at any time.
Snohomish County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Courtney O'Keefe said deputies responded and determined that the neighbors had been firing at a target but were either missing or relying on a backstop that could not stop the rounds, striking the two homes. While the incident occurred in what is a legal shooting area, O'Keefe said the recklessness of the conduct prompted deputies to refer charges of reckless endangerment, and she confirmed the investigation remains active and ongoing.
Both the Coker and Hand families say they want more to be done to prevent a repeat of the ordeal, pointing to just how relentless the shooting felt as the rounds kept coming. Even so, they counted themselves fortunate that, despite bullets piercing their walls, doors and yards, no one was physically hurt, a fact one resident could only describe as something close to divine intervention.