Man Faces Charges In Series Of Shootings; Two Injured

Assault and malicious mischief charges have been filed against a 25-year-old man in a series of random shootings that injured a woman and left a man paralyzed.

Carl Gene Roush of Birch Bay will plead innocent when he is arraigned next week in Whatcom County Superior Court, public defender Jon Komorowski said.

Three counts of first-degree assault and one of malicious mischief were filed Wednesday against Roush, and he remains under investigation in at least two other incidents, Prosecutor Dave McEachran said.

“I think he’s an angry individual,” said Nick Childers, a sheriff’s detective. “I think he’s angry about life.”

Roush, arrested Saturday, was charged in the following shootings:

Dec. 5 - A light was shot out at the Peace Arch Factory Outlet Mall by Interstate 5.

Dec. 27 - A bullet was fired through the back window of a car on a side road. Neither woman in the car was hit.

Jan. 1 - Connie Knapp was shot in the lower leg while seated on a chair in a house during a New Year’s party.

Feb. 13 - A bullet was fired through the driver’s side of a truck cab. Later the same day, Gordon Bostock of Kent was shot in the shoulder and neck while riding as a passenger in a delivery van on I-5. Bostock now relies on a motorized wheelchair while undergoing rehabilitation at University Medical Center.

A gun was seized from Roush as he entered the United States from Canada several days after Bostock was shot, prosecutors said.