Jansen Garside stood at the edge of the crowd of mourners at a vigil held yesterday for the three people killed in Mukilteo over the weekend. The 19-year old knew the three victims. He knew the suspected shooter, Allen Christopher Ivanov, too.
"I don't want to answer questions about himâthe person who did this," Garside said.
"I just want people to know how great they were."
The crowd, which included family members and friends, listened, cried, and prayed, as the mayor of Mukilteo, the governor of Washington, and three religious leaders took turns at the mic.
Garside said one of the three victims, Jake Long, had been his best friend since childhood. The two attended Kamiak High School together, along with the other victims and the suspected shooter. On Saturday, young people gathered near the high school to mourn, and Sunday's vigil was held at the LDS church next door. No family members or friends of the victims spoke during the vigil.
"He was the best person I knew," Garside said of Long. "He was the type of person you look up to. He was a leader and a role model. I would do anything for him and I'd give anything to have him back... I was texting him 20 minutes before he was gone."
Long's mother, Autumn Snider, described her son as a "really sweet kid" who loved improv, baseball, and football and spent time with his 4- and 6-year-old younger siblings. "He was never so much as grounded his entire life," she said. "He was the easiest kid to raiseâjust happy."
What we know about the shooting so far:
The shooting took place at a house party in an upscale Mukilteo neighborhood early Saturday. The three young people killed have been identified by friends as Anna Bui, Jordan Ebner and Jake Long, all 19. Will Kramer, 18, was injured in the shooting and is in serious condition at Harborview Medical Center, according to media reports. Both Bui and the suspected shooter, Allen Christopher Ivanov, attended the University of Washington-Bothell. Friends say the two were dating until recently.
"There's no doubt some of you know Anna or Allen, or both and will be devastated by this news," UW-Bothell said in a statement. "I implore you to counter violence with compassion."
Before the shooting, the Instagram account @allenivanov posted a photo of a rifle next to three bullets. The caption read, "You can't run with me" with a frown-face emoji. Two Tweets posted to the Twitter account @allencivanov Thursday night read, "First and last tweet. I've been through it all" and "What's Ruger gonna think?" The LinkedIn page for the name Allen Ivanov in Mukilteo describes Ivanov as an Apple store employee and software engineer for a laser tag game. (The Alderwood Apple store has confirmed he worked there.)
Ivanov has not yet been charged. He is expected to appear in court today. His family has declined to speak to media. UPDATE: The Seattle Times reports that an affidavit filed today says Ivanov began shooting after becoming jealous over Bui and another man. The affidavit says Ivanov saw Bui and man at the party and then went to his car, loaded the magazine for his AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, and returned to the house, where he fired first at a male and then at Bui. The affidavit says Ivanov bought the rifle about a week ago to use for target practice.
Jessica and Jeremy DuBose, who attended Sunday's vigil, said they live down the street from Ivanov's family but don't know the family well and never noticed anything unusual. "Those people lost their son too," said Jeremy DuBose. "I can't imagine having a kid that would do that and what they're going through."
"We never thought something like this could happen."
Brenna Louis and Ashley Young, 19, both came to Sunday's vigil remember Bui, who they said they'd met in second grade and continued to spend time together as they all went to the UW-Bothell. They described her as smiling and "giggly," a talented singer with an ambition to travel. Bui posted on Facebook in early July about returning from a trip abroad. "I think everyone needs to experience the wildness of traveling," she wrote. "I feel like a whole new person."
"This summer she was backpacking through Europe," Young said. "We're all so young. You never know what you want to do [after college]. We're just taking it day by day.
"I want [people] to remember her laugh," Young added. "It brought everything up. She always tried to make the best situation possible. So we should do the same."
Louis and Young said Bui introduced them to Ivanov and they seemed "very happy."
"We never thought something like this could happen," Young said.
Jansen Garside said he knew Bui and Ebner too, though not as closely as Long. He said Bui's "laugh was contagious" and when he saw Ebner recently, "he talked to me like he'd known me for forever."
As the sun set Sunday night, a group of Long's former baseball teammates huddled near a memorial of photos and flowers swapping memories about Long. They described him as talented and tough, able to play through pain and injury. After playing baseball at a university in Florida, Long planned to transfer to Washington State University this year. "When a group goes its separate ways," said Liam Herlihy, 20, "you always think you'll be able to catch up again someday."
"Inaction is unacceptable."
During the vigil, Governor Jay Inslee told the crowd, "There are seven million hearts of Washingtonians that are with you in Mukilteo tonight."
"Passivity in the face of gun violence is unacceptable," Inslee said. "Inaction is unacceptable."
Speaking to reporters afterward, Inslee said he learned from the law enforcement officers who arrested Ivanov that the rifle used in the shooting carried 30 rounds.
"Our state needs to think about whether that makes sense," Inslee said. Watch a portion of the governor's remarks below.
Jessica DuBose, who lives near the suspect, said she helped organize Sunday's vigil after hearing about the shooting on Facebook. She cried quietly as she looked at photos, flowers, and candles mourners left near Kamiak High School and then expressed what has become a common sentiment.
"You see this stuff on the news all the time and then it happens in your neighborhood," she said. "I'm scared for my kids to grow up. You don't know when or where the next time it's going to happen, and you know what, it will happen again. That's the world we live in."
