SHELTON, Wash. — A former Washington state corrections officer who planned his own shooting was sentenced to just over a year in prison and another 1.5 years of home detention.
Christopher Floe was shot by his sister in Shelton in October of 2021. Floe received his sentence on Tuesday, Nov. 7.
At the time of the shooting the state was investigating claims Floe had an inappropriate relationship with a state inmate. A woman said Floe had kissed her and made her set up a Snapchat account so he could send her nude photos. The Department of Corrections investigated and determined the claims were unfounded.
He allegedly admitted to planning the shooting but pleaded not guilty.
In September, Floe's trial went before Mason County Judge Monty Cobb. Floe waived his right to a jury trial.
During the trial, Mason County Deputy Prosecutor Tyler Bickerton argued Floe had his sister shoot him to potentially get out of trouble, receive disability payments, and perhaps praise.
"It was stupid ... it was really stupid," Floe said in court on Nov. 7. "And I've been paying for it and I really regret it."
The investigation began on Oct. 7, 2021, when officers with the Shelton Police Department responded to a shooting outside the Department of Corrections Office at North Fourth Street and Alder Street.
Floe called 911 to report he’d been shot in the back by an unknown suspect, likely a male in dark clothing, who walked away, according to the probable cause documents. During the investigation, detectives said inconsistencies began to show in Floe’s statement.
A week after the shooting, when detectives said nearby surveillance video showed a car leaving the scene after the shooting, Floe allegedly admitted to detectives that he had talked his sister, 34-year-old Caroline Harris, into shooting him.
When detectives contacted Harris, she confirmed that Floe had asked her to shoot him and gave her a firearm the day before the shooting. Harris said Floe had asked her multiple times to shoot him, with requests beginning about a week prior to the shooting.
On Oct. 7, Harris drove to Floe’s work where he had told her there were no cameras. Detectives said that Harris told them she had “chickened out” at first and then drove her vehicle and parked it next to Floe’s.
He was there and told her where to shoot him. She allegedly used both hands and fired one round, striking Floe. The round went through Floe’s forearm, and his lower back and exited through his abdomen before becoming lodged in his vehicle.
Harris then fled the scene, according to her arrest documents. She was arrested and later charged with conspiring to commit an assault, conspiring to commit a drive-by shooting, second-degree assault and drive-by shooting.
Harris is expected to plead guilty to charges in mid-November.