Teen charged with manslaughter in shooting of hiker

MOUNT VERNON — It was foggy around 7:30 a.m. when the teenage brothers were dropped off at a Sauk Mountain trailhead by their grandfather to hunt bear.

In some places, the two boys from Concrete could see only about 20 feet in front of them, according to court documents charging the 14-year-old with first-degree manslaughter in the Aug. 2 death of a 54-year-old hiker he mistook for a bear.

According to court documents filed in Skagit County Juvenile Court on Friday, the two decided it was so foggy they'd just hike up the trail rather than hunt, but they brought their rifles with them "just in case."

On their way back down, the 14-year-old and his now-17-year-old brother saw movement and a "black outline" on the trail about 100 yards ahead of them, according to court documents.

The boys both had rifles with 3X-magnification scopes and both looked through their scopes for "a few minutes" before the younger said, "It's a bear, it's a bear," and, "I've got my cross hairs on it," court documents allege.

The older boy agreed and told his brother to go ahead and shoot, according to police and prosecutors.

The younger boy, scheduled to appear in court Sept. 3, is not being named by The Times because he is a juvenile. If convicted, he could face up to nine months in juvenile detention.

Pamela Almli, an experienced hiker and sportswoman from Oso in Snohomish County, was hiking with a longtime friend when she was killed about 10 a.m. by a single shot to the head fired from the boy's Tikka .270-caliber rifle, court documents allege.

She was wearing a light-blue jacket and green pants when she was shot, investigators said.

Before her death, she had stopped on the trail for a minute to remove her blue jacket, peel off a black fleece sweatshirt — which she placed in her friend's backpack — and put the blue coat on again.

Her friend also was wearing a blue jacket, according to investigators with the Skagit County Sheriff's Department.

The friend jumped off the trail and slid down the mountain in fear for her life, according to the charging documents.

She heard someone say, "Oh my God, it's a person," the documents allege, and then heard footsteps running for the parking lot. The boys ran to the lot to tell their grandfather what had happened.

Skagit County prosecutors said they charged the boy because his actions were reckless.

Police and prosecutors said that although the boy was licensed and had taken a hunting safety class when he was 9, he failed to follow the Washington State Hunters guide. The guide warns to always use binoculars and never a telescopic sight to identify a target, and to make sure the area behind the target is clear.

The boy's family deferred comments to their attorney, Roy Howson, of Mount Vernon. Howson said his client's family was "broken up in every way imaginable."

The shooting sparked outrage and discussion among hikers and hunters and a vow from at least two legislators to back changes to the state's hunting laws.

It is currently legal in Washington for a licensed 14-year-old who has taken the hunting class to hunt without adult supervision.

According to state records, more than 5,200 big-game hunting licenses have been issued by the state in the first seven months of this year to children age 15 and younger.

More than 600 of them were awarded to children 10 and under, and 50 were issued to children 8 and younger.

Christine Clarridge: 206-464-8983 or cclarridge@seattletimes.com