SPOKANE, Wash. – The janitor who was hailed as a hero after he intervened during the Freeman High School shooting in 2017 testified at the suspect's declination hearing on Thursday.
The declination hearing will determine whether the suspect, Caleb Sharpe, will be tried as an adult.
During Joe Bowen's testimony, some people stepped out of the courtroom, leaving in tears. This is the most that Bowen has spoken about the shooting since it happened.
Bowen said he was fixing a toilet in the girls' restroom at Freeman High when he heard several pops. He said he initially thought that a student lit some fireworks or that it was an explosion from the science classroom.
"Immediately upon realizing this was a shooting, and the girls are in distress. I looked at him, I looked back down the hall. I looked at and him and thought, well Columbine had two shooters. Where's the other one. Looked back at him and ordered him to get on the ground," he said.
Bowen said he the suspect didn't listen to him.
"He stared at me. So I used a little refined language, go to the f****ing ground now. He looked at me, put his hands up and said, 'OK.' Reached up and peeled off his Carhartt hat, dropped it to the floor, put his hands up and went to the floor……I put my knee to his back and my Gerber [multi tool] to his neck and said don't f****ing move," Bowen continued.
Later, Bowen talked about how that day affected the school. He said new, and more, cameras have been installed throughout the school, and there is new security access to the main entrance of the school.
Before he stepped down, Bowen told the court, "I can't go upstairs without seeing it in my head."
Prosecutor Larry Haskell explained to the court that Bowen’s testimony pertains to the Kent factor of how the alleged crime affected the community. The Kent factors will influence whether Sharpe is tried as an adult.
Court documents show Bowen acted quickly after the shots were fired. When he intervened, suspected shooter Caleb Sharpe raised his hands above his head and surrendered to Bowen, who ordered Sharpe to lie down on the floor.
The shooting killed student Sam Strahan and injured three others.
"Joe did what Joe does every day, and that's that he was here for kids," said Freeman School District Superintendent Randy Russell in 2017.
According to school officials, Bowen is a military veteran who did what they expected he would do: he ran toward the threat.
Sharpe's declination hearing began on Monday.
Several witnesses have testified so far, including a psychiatrist who evaluated Sharpe and his parents, a general pediatric doctor who discussed Sharpe's birth records, and a bus driver with the Freeman School District.