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.

South Korea's acting leader Han resigns amid reports he will run for president

2025-05-01 22:43 Last Updated At：22:52

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s acting leader, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, said Thursday he is resigning to take on “heavier responsibility” as expectation mounted he will run in next month’s presidential election.

Han has emerged as a potential conservative standard bearer as the main conservative People Power Party remains in disarray over the recent ouster of President Yoon Suk Yeol. Observers expect Han to officially launch his presidential campaign on Friday.

“I have two paths ahead of me. One is completing the heavy responsibility that I handle now. The other is putting down that responsibility and taking a heavier responsibility,” Han said in a nationally televised announcement. “I’ve finally determined to put down my post to do what I can and what I have to help overcome the crises facing us.”

Han, who Yoon had appointed prime minister, the country’s No. 2 post, is expected to align with the People Power Party to launch a unified conservative campaign against liberal front-runner Lee Jae-myung, observers say.

Han, 75, is a career bureaucrat with about 40 years of public service and a Harvard doctorate in economics. He has held many top posts under both conservative and liberal governments, including trade minister, finance minister and ambassador to the U.S. He’s served as prime minister twice, first under liberal President Roh Moo-hyun from 2007 to 2008 and later under Yoon.

Han’s supporters say his extensive government experience, especially on economic affairs, would make him the right leader who can deal with President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariff policies and other economic problems. But his critics say Han — who has never had an elected post — has no strong political support base and is too old to become president.

Lee's main liberal opposition Democratic Party lambasted Han's move. “Only the people's severe punishment awaits Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who is blind with greed and abandons state affairs,” party spokesperson Cho Seung-rae said.

Han is to formally end his term at midnight after he signs a related document, according to South Korean media.

With Han’s resignation, Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok was supposed to serve as acting leader until a new president is elected on June 3. But Choi resigned Thursday night, after the Democratic Party, which has a majority status at the single-chamber National Assembly, abruptly pushed to pass his impeachment motion. Another Deputy Prime Minister Lee Ju-Ho is next in line to become acting leader.

Lee Jae-myung, who won the nomination of the Democratic Party on Sunday, has been favored to win. But his campaign suffered a blow Thursday after the Supreme Court ordered a lower court to review its earlier cancellation of his conviction over election law violation charges.

While it's unclear the Seoul High Court will come up with a new ruling on Lee before the June 3 election, the development provided his conservative rivals with fodder for a political offensive. Under South Korean law, anyone who receives a fine exceeding 1 million won ($683) for election law violations is barred from running for elections for five years.

The Democratic Party condemned the Supreme Court for allegedly trying to interfere in the election.

After the liberal opposition-controlled assembly impeached Yoon on Dec. 14 over his martial law declaration that plunged the country into turmoil, Han began serving as acting leader.

But Han quickly clashed with Lee’s Democratic Party over his refusal to fill three vacant seats on the nine-member Constitutional Court, which was deliberating whether to formally dismiss or reinstate Yoon. A court decision to dismiss Yoon needed support from at least six justices.

In late December, the Democratic Party and other small opposition parties voted to impeach Han, accusing him of obstructing the restoration of the court’s full membership and abetting Yoon’s martial law decree. In March, however, the Constitutional Court overturned Han’s impeachment, reinstating him as acting president. The court in early April ruled to dismiss Yoon.

Yoon separately faces a criminal trial for rebellion in connection with his martial law decree. On Thursday, prosecutors added charges of abuse of power, according to a Seoul prosecutors' office.