MOUNT VERNON, Washington —
Audio and video captured around the time of a 2016 shooting appears to connect the suspect to the attempted murder of a Mount Vernon police officer.
Officer Mike McClaughry, a longtime veteran of the police force, was permanently blinded after he was shot in the head outside of Ernesto Rivas' home.
“The cops got my house surrounded," Rivas said in the voicemail to an ex-girlfriend that was played in court on Thursday. "I don’t know if I shot one. I guess I’m gonna die tonight. If not, tomorrow morning when they raid the house.”
Rivas claimed that a teenage gang member hiding inside his home actually shot McClaughry, despite what could be heard on the voicemail.
Surveillance video captured at the scene depicts the actual shooting of officer McClaughry. Prosecutors said they plan to play that video for jurors later in the trial.