Random act of violence

Three Anacortes men arrested in shooting death of NAS Whidbey officer.

“Skagit County prosecutors plan to charge three Anacortes men today in the shooting death of a Whidbey Island Navy officer who was killed while driving his car on Highway 20 near the Swinomish Slough bridge early Thursday morning.Scott Kinkele, 23, died instantly from a gunshot to the head.Skagit County Prosecutor Tom Verge said he is consulting with investigators and plans to make a charging decision Wednesday afternoon.In the meantime, investigators have discovered another suspected but uninjured victim of the men’s alleged shooting spree.Skagit County Undersheriff Dave Stafford said investigators arrested the three men in suspicion of first-degree murder over the weekend based on a witness’ description of a car in the area of the shooting and tips from the public.Adam Moore, 25, was arrested Saturday night. Early Sunday, Stafford said the investigators served a search warrant on a house on the 1600 block of K Avenue in Anacortes. They arrested two half-brothers in the raid, 23-year-old Seth Anderson and 36-year-old Eben Berriault, and seized a 12-gauge shotgun, a .22 rifle and the 1980 blue Pontiac Trans-Am that investigators believe the men were driving at the time of the shooting.Stafford said investigators believe the killing was a random act of violence and the men acted with absolute disregard for human life. They believe that the three men were traveling up and down Highway 20 and basically just shooting stuff.Stafford said the men shot at a car driven by a woman in Sedro-Woolley that same night. The woman thought that the men were throwing rocks at her and pulled over. She was going to follow the car – which she described as a Trans-Am-type car – but decided against it. She reported the incident after hearing Monday about the Kinkele shooting.According to Stafford, the investigators recovered a .22 bullet out of the trunk of her car. In addition, they found a sign and a light fixture believed to have been shot by the men.The police say Kinkele had been in Seattle and then Mount Vernon visiting friends and was eastbound on Highway 20 when he was killed. Stafford said a slug – a heavy chunk of lead – from a shotgun went through the rear window of Kinkele’s station wagon and hit him in the back of the head. The slug killed him instantly, according to Skagit County Coroner Bruce Bacon.Kinkele’s car veered through the median, over two lanes of traffic and ended up next to a field. The incident was originally reported as an accident, but the State Patrol notified the Skagit Sheriff’s Office immediately after seeing Kinkele’s condition. Police believe that Berriault may have pulled the trigger on the fatal shot. His criminal record includes arrests for manslaughter and first-degree armed robbery in Chelan County.”