KENT, Wash. — A suspect accused of shooting a Washington State Patrol trooper pleaded not guilty to two felony charges in a King County superior court on Monday.
The suspect, identified as Jason Joshua Posada in court documents, is accused of shooting Washington State Patrol Trooper Raymond Seaburg multiple times in both legs during an altercation in mid-February. Posada faces charges of first-degree assault and theft of a firearm.
Over a dozen Kent police and WSP officers attended Posada's arraignment as a sign of support for Seaburg, who is currently in satisfactory condition at Harborview Medical Center, according to a hospital spokesperson.
Posada is currently being held on $3 million bail and was ordered to have no contact with Seaburg.
On Feb. 17, Seaburg was driving south on State Route 167 at around 11:10 p.m. when he spotted a driver in a black Ford truck that he suspected of being under the influence. Seaburg followed the driver off of SR 167 and into Kent. The driver then got into an accident with another car at an intersection and fled the scene on foot. At 11:14 p.m., Seaburg notified dispatch that the suspect ran into a nearby apartment complex. Just one minute later, Seaburg reported that he had been shot in the leg.
Officers from the Kent Police Department and the Washington State Patrol found Seaburg near the east entrance of the Driftwood Apartments with gunshot wounds to both legs. Seaburg was taken to Harborview Medical Center where he was discovered to have nine entry and exit bullet wounds, according to court documents.
Between medical procedures, Seaburg was able to recount some details of the incident to detectives.
He recalled following the suspect on foot from the scene of the accident to an apartment complex where he was able to take the suspect to the ground. Seaburg said he tried to gain control of the suspect's arms, but he continued to resist arrest. During the struggle, Seaburg said he saw the suspect pull out a firearm from his waistband. Seaburg drew his weapon and attempted to shoot, but his gun wouldn't fire. Seaburg then tried to wrestle the gun from the suspect's hands. He then tried to get away from the suspect when the suspect fired the gun multiple times, hitting Seaburg in both legs. Seaburg tried to run away, but he collapsed on the ground. As the suspect walked away, Seaburg said the suspect fired additional shots in his direction.
Troopers at the scene collected five spent shell casings, which did not match the type of ammunition used by WSP troopers. Investigators could not find Seaburg's gun at the scene.
Detectives returned to the scene of the car accident ran the VIN on the black Ford truck that the suspect had been driving and discovered it had been reported stolen out of King County.
Several witnesses to the accident reported that a female passenger had been in the truck at the time of the collision and also fled from the scene on foot. They were able to find the woman after a person at a nearby apartment complex reported that a female stranger had knocked on their door and they allowed her to come inside.
The woman told detectives that the suspect picked her up from Renton and they were exiting SR 167 when she saw police lights behind them. She told police that the suspect, who she only knew as "Shadow" sped up drastically and ran a red light, causing a car already traveling through that intersection to hit the truck. The suspect told the woman to grab her stuff and leave, and then he fled from the scene. The woman said while she was walking away from the truck, she saw a police officer sprinting down the road yelling something like "It's the police!"
Officers from multiple agencies canvassed the area for the suspect. A police K9 from Federal Way tracked the suspect to a different apartment complex and found him hiding in the backyard of one of the units. The suspect, identified by fingerprint analysis as Posada, fit the description that Seaburg had previously given to dispatch. Police also found a backpack and an iPad in the vicinity.
Detectives secured warrants to search the backpack and the iPad for evidence. Posada confirmed to police that it was his tablet but denied owning the backpack. An outgoing message sent from the iPad at 12:39 a.m., an hour and 15 minutes after the shooting, read "shot a cop" and "hurry."
Upon a search of the backpack found in Posada's vicinity, police found Trooper Seaburg's duty weapon, which had gone missing from the scene of the shooting. They also found a 9mm Polymer 80 handgun with no serial number. The shell casings from the handgun were consistent with the ones that police recovered from the shooting scene.