Brandon O'Neel, the Walla Walla man accused of shooting Washington State Patrol Trooper Dean Atkinson Jr. on Sept. 22, 2022, has been deemed incompetent to stand trial and will undergo "competency restoration treatment" at Eastern State Hospital, an inpatient psychiatric hospital.
As a result, O'Neel's criminal trial has been delayed indefinitely.
According to court documents, Walla Walla County Superior Court Judge Brandon L. Johnson determined that O'Neel lacked the capacity to understand the nature of the proceedings against him and to participate in his own defense.
Johnson signed the order on Monday, April 17.
O'Neel's attorney, Julie Carlson Straube, filed a motion in March to have her client's competency assessed because her communications with O'Neel as well as entries in his personal journal shows he operated with a "belief system not based in reality," she said.
Johnson then ordered O'Neel to be assessed by Dr. Ronald Page, a Walla Walla-based psychologist. After reviewing Page's report, Johnson ordered the competency restoration treatment.
Despite the order, O'Neel still remains in custody at the Walla Walla County Jail.
Because there are no beds available at Eastern State Hospital, his treatment is delayed. According to court documents, the state Department of Social and Health Services reports the wait time could be as long as four months.
O'Neel's treatment is scheduled to last 90 days. He is charged with first-degree attempted premeditated murder, first-degree assault with a deadly weapon, attempting to elude police, threatening to bomb with intent to alarm and harassment with threats to kill.
First-degree attempted murder and first-degree assault are Class A felonies with a maximum penalty of life in prison. Threatening to bomb is a Class B felony with a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. His other two charges, Class C felonies, carry maximum sentences of five years in prison.
O'Neel is accused of stopping his vehicle near Atkinson's police vehicle on West Poplar Street, getting out and shooting the trooper multiple times in the hand and face, according to court documents.
Earlier on the day of the shooting, Walla Walla County Sheriff's Office deputies evicted O'Neel from his Walla Walla apartment. O'Neel was not home at the time of the eviction.
According to court documents, an eviction summons application filed by the apartment's property management company cited an alleged threat by O'Neel to "execute any cop or manager" who tried to evict him.
Despite being shot in the face and hand, Atkinson drove himself to Providence St. Mary Medical Center and was later transferred to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
He was released Sunday, Oct. 2, and was escorted across the state back to his Walla Walla home by a small convoy of police officers.
