When two Renton police officers responded to the Cedar River Terrace Apartments early Monday, they found a parking sign had been used to shatter a glass door, according to King County prosecutors.
While the officers initially thought they were dealing with a likely malicious mischief case, it soon morphed into a homicide investigation — and one of their own undergoing emergency surgery for knife wounds to his face.
Within minutes of the officers' arrival, they chased a man on foot, who slashed and stabbed an officer’s face with a knife and announced that he had just killed his mother, according to murder, assault and burglary charges filed Thursday against 42-year-old Christopher Mott.
After Mott was arrested and medics were summoned to treat the injured officer, Justin Kauppila, other officers reviewed video surveillance footage with the complex’s maintenance manager, who recognized Mott as the son of a resident, 79-year-old Colleen McCue, the charges say.
Two officers went to check on McCue, found blood outside her unit, and discovered her body on her living room floor, according to charging papers.
McCue suffered “numerous” cuts and stab wounds to her chest, neck and face along with injuries to her hands and forearms consistent with defensive wounds, the charges say.
On Wednesday, Renton police posted a short video on X, showing people lining the driveway outside Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center and applauding as Kauppila, the right side of his face bandaged, came out of the hospital and climbed into the front passenger seat of a gray SUV. He is now recovering at home, the post says.
According to the charges against Mott, it is unknown whether Kauppila will regain sight in his right eye.
Mott remains jailed in lieu of $5 million bail and is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday.
https://twitter.com/RentonpdWA/status/2085169323493261343
A foot chase and a knife fight
At least two people called 911 at 11:56 p.m. Sunday — one thought a car had crashed into the building while a second caller reported a possible gunshot had shattered the glass door of the retirement complex at 51 Burnett Ave. S., which houses people 62 years old and older, charging papers say.
Six minutes later, at 12:02 a.m. Monday, Kauppila and another officer arrived and found “a twisted metal parking sign” just outside the shattered door that appeared to have been taken from the parking lot. Kauppila told the other officer he would write up a police report so the other officer could return to service, the charges say.
Soon after, Kauppila saw a man loitering in the parking lot and based on his proximity to the call location, the late hour and that he appeared younger than the complex’s residents, the officer called out to him, believing he was the person who damaged the door, according to the charges.
The man, later identified as Mott, took off running and was chased by Kauppila, who radioed for another officer to respond, the charges say. The same officer who had initially responded with Kauppila returned and joined the pursuit.
Mott ignored their commands to stop but then turned to face off against the other officer with an unknown object in his left hand — what the officer believed was a knife — the charges say. As the officer backed up, he fell onto his back, drew his gun and pointed it at Mott, according to the charges.
Mott ran north with Kauppila in pursuit until just before the intersection of William Avenue South and North Riverside Drive, where footage from Kauppila’s body-worn camera shows “Mott turn directly in Officer Kauppila’s direction … and with his left hand holding a knife, slash from up to down” across the officer’s face and lunge toward him, charging papers say.
Mott then chased Kauppila south and Kauppila was able to draw and deploy his Taser, hitting Mott, whose body locked up as he fell to the ground, the charges say.
Kauppila told the officer he was hit in the eye and could not see out of it, according to the charges.
Other officers arrived at the scene and Mott told one of them, “I just (expletive) killed my mom. … And it felt great,” according to the charges.
Kauppila suffered a fracture to his orbital bone, a puncture to the “globe” of his right eyeball, a severed upper lip and a large cut from his right ear to the corner of his mouth, according to the charges.
In addition to the first-degree assault charge for the attack on Kauppila, Mott was charged with first-degree murder domestic violence for McCue's death and first-degree burglary for the break-in at the Cedar River Terrace Apartments. Mott was seen in video-surveillance footage smashing the front door with the parking sign and he’s later seen with a knife in his left hand and blood on his arm, the charges say.
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