MOUNT VERNON, Wash — Nearly three years ago, Officer Michael “Mick” McClaughry was shot in the back of the head while responding to a 911 call in Mount Vernon. The shooting left him permanently blind and though his recovery exceeded expectations, he officially retired a year later after 32 years serving the community.
Now, Officer McClaughry and his family are expected to finally get the verdict in the trial against Ernesto Rivas, the accused shooter.
Here's a timeline of events:
DEC. 15, 2016 - THE NIGHT OF THE SHOOTING:
Officer McClaughry responded to a home on North LaVenture Road and East Fir Street at 5:30 p.m. for a reported gang-related shooting. When McClaughry arrived, he and another officer walked up to the house and that's when someone started shooting at officers.
McClaughry, a 31 year veteran of the force, was shot in the back of the head and taken to Harborview Medical Center. He got to the hospital at 9:38 p.m. and was unconscious and in very serious condition. In the days following the shooting, McClaughry would learn that he was permanently blinded as a result of the shooting.
Shortly after midnight on Dec. 15, police arrested a suspect and two teenagers as persons of interest.
DEC. 21, 2016 - COURT DOCS REVEAL WHAT HAPPENED:
Ernesto Rivas, 44, and two teenage boys were charged with attempted premeditated murder in the first degree for shooting Officer McClaughry.
Austin Gonzalez, 16, and Roberto Lopez Jr., 15, were also charged with attempted murder in the second degree of Kyler Parker, a 19-year-old who was the victim of the shooting Officer McClaughry was responding to.
Court documents said Parker was riding in a car with several other people in the neighborhood at about 5:30 p.m. when the car got a flat tire. The others left to get a new tire, and Parker stayed behind and that's when he was approached by a man wearing a red bandana and was shot in the neck.
The shooter, along with an accomplice, ran into the backyard of 824 North LaVenture Road. Witnesses told police they saw Rivas, Gonzalez, and another man near that home in the time between the Parker and McClaughry shootings.
Another witness said that during the initial shooting, Rivas could be heard from behind his fence "yelling at the shooters that they needed to shoot at them [the people whose car broke down]."
When police responded to the shooting call and walked up to the home on North LaVenture Road, that's when shots were fired and hit Officer McClaughry.
After nearly a seven-hour standoff, police finally arrested Rivas, Gonzalez, and Lopez Jr.
JAN. 24, 2017 - TEENAGER SENTENCED:
Roberto Lopez Jr., 15, agreed to be sentenced as an adult and pleaded guilty to two lesser charges of assault.
He was charged with second-degree assault with a deadly weapon for the shooting of Kyler Parker, and also fourth-degree assault for an unrelated domestic violence incident that occurred in November 2016.
Lopez Jr. was originally facing charges for the attempted premeditated murder of officer McClaughry, but those charges were later dropped.
Lopez Jr. was sentenced to six months and 15 days in jail.
JULY 3, 2017 - SECOND TEENAGER SENTENCED:
Austin Gonzalez, 16, pleaded guilty to the attempted premeditated murder of Officer McClaughry, and also the attempted murder of Kyler Parker.
Gonzalez was sentenced as an adult to seven years and eight months.
JULY 30, 2019 - RIVAS WILL GO TO TRIAL:
Nearly three years after the shooting occurred, Ernesto Rivas was found competent to stand trial for the shooting of Officer McClaughry.
Rivas's trial began at the start of August and is now awaiting a verdict from a jury after several weeks of testimony.
AUG. 29, 2019 - THE VERDICT:
Ernesto Rivas was found guilty on all six counts of attempted murder and assault in the 2016 gang-related shootout that left Mount Vernon police officer Michael McClaughry blind.
OCT. 16, 2019 - LIFE IN PRISON
A judge sentenced Ernesto Rivas to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Rivas chose not to speak on his behalf during his sentencing.