KING COUNTY, Wash. — State troopers have arrested a Federal Way woman accused of brandishing a gun at 2 different drivers on King County highways.
Washington State Patrol (WSP) says the investigation began several weeks ago, after a driver reported a woman driving a black vehicle pointed a handgun at them and their niece twice on eastbound State Route 18 between the summit of Tiger Mountain and Interstate 90. The victim took down the license plate and vehicle information.
WSP contacted the victim, and positively identified the registered owner of the vehicle as the woman who had brandished the gun at them.
When the license plate was cross-referenced by troopers, a second report involving the suspect vehicle was found from a similar incident in June 2023.
The victim in that incident had not initially spoken with troopers, but reported having a gun pointed at them by a driver on eastbound I-90 near the exit to SR 18. WSP spoke with that victim and they identified the same suspect from a photo montage.
WSP set up surveillance in the routine area of travel for the suspect on May 22. The suspect was pulled over for a traffic stop on westbound I-90 near Preston. The 31-year-old suspect was booked into King County Jail on suspicion of second-degree assault and felony harassment.
The KING 5 Investigators recently reviewed WSP’s 911 data shows 577 calls from citizens in King County last year, between February 2023 to February 2024, reporting a roadway crime that involved a gun. Many of those calls involve firearm brandishing.
In WSP records from March 2019 through March 2020 – the start of the COVID pandemic shutdown in Washington state – there were 339 gun-related calls on King County highways. That means gun incidents soared by 70% last year when compared to pre-pandemic times.
KING 5's Chris Ingalls contributed to this report.
