It’s not just the physical wounds, but the emotional ones from which deputies Jason Thompson and Ryan Rathbun will have to heal, still right on the surface as they recount that day.
Fighting back tears, Thompson says, “Ryan and I worked together a very long time. We’re very good friends. I thought about the fact that he was going to see my body there.”
Rathbun says, “I heard him yell out in pain so, for me, to hear him be able to even just scream – you know someone’s alive.”
Deputy Rathbun tells Northwest Newsradio that after seeing his best friend hit in the face with bird shot, and then the same happening to him, he had to get his wits about him, and then he had to rely on years of training to save them both.
Their attorney, Daniel Horne, says they want Joel Young held accountable, which he says will happen easier in a civil court if Young is found guilty on criminal charges. That could mean liability for all the medical and other costs the deputies will have as a result of the shooting.
Young is still in the Skagit County Jail. It’s not clear if he has a civil attorney, but he has a public defender in his criminal case, who did not reply to a request for comment.
You can read the filed lawsuit documents here.
Watch the deputies’ entire press conference with their attorney, Daniel Horne.
