MOUNT VERNON — In the 20-degree weather of Dec. 15, 2016, State Patrol trooper Nicholas Schureman remembers hearing a bang and seeing smoke come from what he believed to be the muzzle of a gun before watching a uniformed Mount Vernon police officer fall backward.
Video and audio footage from Schureman’s vehicle camera and on-body microphone was shown to jurors Wednesday in the trial of Ernesto Rivas — the man accused of firing the weapon, the bullet from which struck police officer Michael “Mick” McClaughry in the head leaving him blind.
The video and audio showed the chaos that ensued, including yelling, shouts of “Shots fired!” and instructions of how to to best get McClaughry to safety.
Seconds later, sirens began screeching in the background as firetrucks, ambulances and other emergency response vehicles rushed to the scene.
As shots continued to ring out, civilian vehicles — their drivers unaware of the mayhem surrounding them — continued to drive through the high-traffic intersection.
Schureman and other law enforcement officers can be heard yelling at them to leave the area and at the person who continued to shoot the weapon to stop firing.
Jurors have heard this week from law enforcement officers investigating an earlier shooting less than a block away from Rivas’ home. The trial is now moving into testimony from detectives with the Skagit Multi Agency Response Team who investigated both scenes.
The team is comprised of detectives from Skagit County’s law enforcement agencies, as well as from the State Patrol and Island County, and is designed to investigate large-scale incidents and officer-involved shootings.
Skagit County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Kevin Sigman testified that he was first assigned to assist with evacuating the area before moving into an investigating role.
Sigman testified that while investigating the scene he saw a streak of blood that went from the front porch of Rivas’ home, across a road and to the vehicle of Burlington police officer Preston Payne.
Inside the home, Sigman said, a security monitor continued to show the front of Rivas’ house where hours earlier McClaughry had been shot.
On Tuesday, jurors heard from Mount Vernon police officer Liz Paul, who helped drag McClaughry first behind her patrol car and then to another vehicle where he could be driven to an ambulance.
“My patrol car was the only cover I could think of immediately,” she said. “The entire time we were there we were taking fire off and on.”
Paul said as she and Payne dragged McClaughry through the grass and across the normally busy road, she feared getting hit by one of the many bullets flying overhead.
“I remember hoping that if one were to hit me, it would hit me in the arm instead of the head,” she said. “I felt rounds coming so close to me I thought I was going to get hit.”
As with Payne, jurors were shown photographs of Paul taken that evening that revealed dark red stains on her blue uniform. It was McClaughry’s blood, she told them.
Paul, who was behind McClaughry at the bottom of the square, concrete patio of Rivas’ home, leapt back as she heard shots being fired from inside the home. She then rushed forward when she saw McClaughry was no longer standing.
“He was down on the ground and he wasn’t moving,” she said. “I was trying to see if officer McClaughry would be able to self-rescue. It was clear when I saw him (he wouldn’t.)”
Neither Paul nor Payne saw who fired the shot that struck McClaughry.
