The man charged with a violent rampage in the North Sound made a virtual appearance in a Snohomish County court on Friday.
Court documents detail the horrifying moments police say Gilbert Escamilla spent in Edmonds’ home as a woman inside begged for help. More than 24 hours later, police are still combing the house for evidence, as Snohomish County prosecutors asked for Escamilla’s bail to be set at $5 million dollars after listing his possible charges.
“The state is going to ask you to find probable cause for the crimes of first-degree murder, first-degree murder, two counts of first-degree assault, first-degree burglary, theft of a motor vehicle, attempt to subdue police. evade, and two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm in the first degree,” the Snohomish County prosecutor said in court.
Court documents show that a violent morning began in Marysville around 4 a.m. They accuse Escamilla of shooting a man at the Twin Lakes Landing Apartments. Documents said Escamilla shot the man twice, then Escamilla shot him again, execution style. Then the people who lived here at the second crime scene were snatched around 7 a.m.
“You just came out of your sleep and it’s kind of like oh my god what was that sound? I heard maybe three and then two gunshots,” said a man from Edmonds.
Those gunshots, according to the court documents, were the sounds of a 68-year-old grandmother being killed at home and her son fighting with Escamilla, trying to stop him from going further into the house. That man’s wife was the woman who was on the phone to 911 in a panic, calling for help.
“So when we heard the help, we got up. That’s why I looked out my window. Like I said, it was help and then it appeared shortly after the car backed up. I started hearing sirens and stuff,” the Edmonds man said.
According to court documents, Escamilla shot the 32-year-old woman in the head while she was on the phone to 911. That happened while her 4-year-old and 7-year-old hid in closets, listening to the gunshots that hit the only family they saw in the have country.
“I can look from my bedroom and look over there, you see. you’re still thinking about it,” the neighbor said.
Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office said as of now there is no connection between Escamilla and the Edmonds family who emigrated from Russia several years ago. The 32-year-old woman also told the operator that she did not know who Escamilla was. The police arrested Escamilla on Thursday morning after a short chase in the car of one of the victims.
“Like I said, we’re a tight-knit community, even the next block away. so for something as random and as isolated as they seem to happen just seems impossible,” said John Credico, another man who lives in Edmonds.
As of Friday, the couple shot in Edmonds is still in critical condition.
Court documents also said Escamilla told investigators after his arrest that he was detoxing and needed methadone. Those same documents also said that he and his clothes had gunshot residue, glass, and blood.
Prosecutors have 72 hours to file charges.
