Video: Chilling testimony on day one of Jewish Federation gunman

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SEATTLE - Prosecutors described a deliberate plan to make a blood-soaked political point as a trial began Monday for a man accused of shooting up the Seattle Jewish Federation two years ago, killing one woman and wounding five.

King County Deputy Prosecutor Erin Ehlert told jurors Naveed Haq carefully planned the attack in July of 2006, making four separate trips to gun shops in the days before the attack. He used the Internet to map the 227-mile trip from his parent's home in Pasco, Wash., to the Jewish Federation in Seattle.

Ehlert, who said the state would refute Haq's claim of insanity, described him as being on a mission. "He thought about what he did. He planned what he did," she said.

When he was stopped by a police officer for a traffic violation just a few blocks from the building less than 15 minutes before the shooting, he behaved appropriately, showing no sign of insanity, Ehlert said.

It was "a normal conversation, in a normal tone of voice," she said.

The 32-year-old Tri-Cities man has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to charges of murder and attempted murder. If convicted he faces life in prison without parole.

Ehlert played the 911 call in which Haq asked to be connected to CNN and said he was doing it to make a point about U.S. support for Israel and the war in Iraq.

"I don't care if I die," Haq told the operator. "This is just to make a point."

Soon afterward, though, he concluded that his point had been made. "I'll give myself up," he said, repeating, "This was just to make a point."

Ehlert said Haq was on a mission to make a political statement: "That the Jewish people in America have too much power."

The prosecutor described how Haq stalked through the office, shooting one victim after another, in one case reaching over a cubicle wall before pulling the trigger. He chased Pamela Waechter toward an exit, shooting her as she ran down the stairs.

Prosecutors plan to show surveillance video of Haq forcing Cheryl Stembo's then 14-year-old niece, to help him get into the building, at gunpoint, and video of Pamela Waechter trying to escape before Haq leaned over the stairwell railing and fired.

Prosecutors sah Haq planned the shootings at least 12 days in advance, but defense attorneys say Haq was at the center of what they call "a perfect storm" of severe mental illness, stress and improper medication.

If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life in prison. If he's not guilty by reason of insanity, he will be locked up in a state mental institution for the foreseeable future.

Family members and supporters of the victims were present in the audience.