SEATTLE (AP) — A 44-year-old man accused of randomly shooting at vehicles on Interstate 5 south of Seattle, injuring six people including one critically, was charged with five counts of assault, King County prosecutors said Thursday.
The Washington State Patrol says Eric Jerome Perkins shot at three cars driving north on I-5 at around 8:30 p.m. Monday, and at three more vehicles heading south several hours later. People in all but one of the cars were injured. He’s being held in the King County jail on a $1 million bail and is scheduled for arraignment on Sept. 19.
“The defendant fired indiscriminately at multiple vehicles as he drove the busy freeways in the Seattle and Tacoma areas,” Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Stephen Herschkowitz said in his request for a high bail. “He is responsible for causing several of the victims to sustain critical, life-threatening injuries.”
Perkins has a criminal history in California that includes two burglary convictions, two receiving stolen goods convictions and one count of threatening with intent to terrorize and obstruct, Herschkowitz said.