ALGER, Wash. – "I kill for God. I listen to God," a man accused of a Washington shooting rampage earlier this week that left six people dead and four injured said at his court hearing Friday.
Isaac Zamora made the chilling comment twice at the brief hearing in Skagit County District Court while investigators wrapped up their work at eight crime scenes. The 28-year-old is being held on $5 million bail in the wake of Tuesday's rampage.
The attacks began near Zamora's mother's home near the tiny town of Alger, 70 miles north of Seattle, and continued on Interstate 5. After a high-speed police pursuit, Zamora surrendered at a sheriff's office in Mount Vernon, about 20 miles south of Alger.
Among the dead was Skagit County Deputy Sheriff Anne Jackson, who had responded to a call to check on Zamora.
Also killed were a man shot at the same location as Jackson; two male construction workers shot nearby; a 48-year-old woman found a few houses away; and a 64-year-old motorist killed along the highway near a rest stop, authorities said. Two people were wounded — one by stabbing — and two were wounded on the freeway, including a state trooper.
Zamora, who has a long record of run-ins with the law, had been admitted several times to hospitals for mental health treatment and attempted suicide several times, his friends and family said.
In the past five years, Zamora has been in and out of courtrooms, accused of malicious mischief, drug possession and theft, and was last released from jail about a month ago after serving six months for cocaine possession.
He faces six charges of first-degree murder and four charges of first-degree assault. The judge read each charge and the penalties, which carry a maximum sentence of life in prison. However, Rich Weyrich, the Skagit County prosecutor, said Zamora could still face the death penalty at a later point.
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