GUILTY WA - Mount Vernon PD officer shot, in critical condition, 15 Dec 2016 *Arrests*

A "primary suspect" was taken into custody early Friday, following an hours-long standoff, along with two other suspects, the patrol said.

"The suspect who allegedly shot at officers barricaded himself in a residence ... and continued to fire shots at officers on scene throughout the evening," the patrol said in a statement. "Officers from multiple agencies responded to the scene and closed roads in the immediate area. Hostage negotiators spent several hours communicating with the suspect."

Q13 News is identifying the suspect as Ernesto Lee Rivas, Sr., a 44-year-old Mount Vernon man with a lengthy criminal history.

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A 30-year veteran of the Mount Vernon Police Department who was shot in the head Thursday evening remains in “very critical” condition Friday

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After Ernesto Lee Rivas pleaded guilty in 1998 in a deal with Yakima County prosecutors that saved him from a life sentence, he turned to a police detective and said with a smile, “Oh, by the way, does that mean I got four balls and a walk?”

Rivas was sentenced to 15 years in prison and avoided a three-strikes conviction, which would have sent him to prison for the rest of his life.

A Yakima police detective protested the deal, calling Rivas a “predator.”

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Police released the identity of a Mount Vernon police officer who was shot in the line of duty Thursday as Mike (Mik) McClaughry.

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McClaughry, a 31 year veteran of the force, was shot in the back of the head and taken to Harborview Medical Center. He arrived at the hospital at 9:38 p.m. He was unconscious and in very serious condition. He underwent surgery about an hour later. On Friday morning, hospital officials said he was in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

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Two teens were also arrested in connection with the shooting. A 15-year-old male and a 16-year-old male are being held for attempted murder, and bail is set at $500,000 for each of them.

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Ernesto Lee Rivas, 44, Austin Isaias Gonzalez, 16, and a 15-year-old male were each charged with attempted premeditated murder in the first degree of Mount Vernon Police Officer Mick McClaughry. Gonzalez and the 15-year-old male were also charged with attempted murder in the second degree of Kyler Parker, who was injured in an earlier shooting...

Charging documents say Parker was riding in a car with several other people in the neighborhood about 5:30 p.m. when the car got a flat tire. The others left to get a tire for the car, and Parker was approached by a man in a red bandana. The man shot Parker in the neck...

When police approached the house on North LaVenture Road to canvas the neighborhood, shots were fired from the home, and struck McClaughry.

During a nearly seven-hour standoff, negotiators contacted Rivas, and “detectives were able to determine that it sounded as though there were juveniles in the background that were joking around and having fun,” according to charging documents.

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The murder trial of Ernesto Rivas and Austin Gonzales has been delayed to June 5.

The month delay was requested Thursday by Rivas’ lawyer in Skagit County Superior Court.

Rivas, 44, and Gonzales, 16, are being tried as co-defendants on charges stemming from a pair of Dec. 15 shootings that wounded Mount Vernon police officer Mike “Mick” McClaughry and another man.

Gonzales is being charged as an adult for allegedly shooting a man in the neck in the area of North LaVenture Road in Mount Vernon, court documents state.

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Roberto Lopez Jr. agreed in court Monday to be sentenced as an adult for second degree assault with a deadly weapon and fourth degree assault.

The second degree assault charge is for a previous incident that happened the night McClaughry was shot. The fourth degree assault charge is for an unrelated domestic violence incident that happened in November and was pending the night of the McClaughry shooting.

Lopez was previously charged in juvenile court for attempted premeditated murder in the first degree of McClaughry and attempted murder in the second degree of Kyler Parker, who was injured in an earlier shooting. The charges related to the McClaughry shooting were dropped.

Lopez was sentenced to six months and 15 days.

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“Thank you all for being here,” said McClaughry, who had staged a remarkable recovery after being near brain death when he was shot in the head in December. “I wish I could see all of you.”

But all the officer can see, he said earlier when released from the Seattle hospital, “is vari*ances in brightness. I can see some color, not much.”

McClaughry beat the odds when it comes to being shot in the head.

Gunshot-wound head trauma is fatal about 90 percent of the time, according to the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, with many victims dying before arriving at the hospital.

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On Tuesday, Dr. Peter Esselman, chair of UW Medicine rehabilitation medicine, said that McClaughry’s injury was to the part of the brain that “interprets vision.” The injury, he said, also affected the officer’s short-term memory.

“Another place in the head, a matter of inches,” said the doctor, and McClaughry’s fate might have been quite different.

The doctor said he was “kind of cautious, but we hope to continue to see some improvement in his vision. I’ve learned in this business to never say never.”

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McClaughry was supposed to stay at the hospital a day longer, but his wife asked he be released Tuesday.

It was Valentine’s Day and the 39th wedding anniversary for Mick and Linda McClaughry.

The officer said faith had helped him get through the past two months.

“I think we all look for comfort,” said McClaughry. “If we have faith, it provides that comfort that keeps us straight to get to the other side.”

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Austin Gonzales currently has a trial date set for July 5.

Ernesto Rivas, 44, who is being charged with two counts of first-degree attempted murder for the same shootings and who reportedly shot McClaughry, had his trial date moved to Sept. 11, according to court documents.

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The 16-year-old boy charged in the Dec. 15 shooting that led to the shooting of Mount Vernon police officer Michael “Mick” McClaughry was sentenced Friday to seven and a half years of incarceration.

Austin Isaias Gonzales pleaded guilty as an adult to three counts of second-degree assault — two counts of which come with increased sentences because of a firearm enhancement.

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While speaking at Gonzales’ sentencing, McClaughry mentioned the few interactions he had with Gonzales before the shooting.

“It was in the back of my mind that unfortunately you were going to get swept along on a path that is very dark and very unforgiving,” McClaughry said. “I’m sorry for that.”

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The trial of Ernesto Lee Rivas, 45, was rescheduled for Aug. 6 to give his defense team more time to prepare.

Rivas, who is accused of shooting former Mount Vernon police officer Mike McClaughry in the head during a standoff in December 2016, is charged with two counts of first-degree attempted murder.

The trial has been rescheduled several times.

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