A Mukilteo policeman found a suspect’s gun on Sept. 1 during the search that halted traffic on Interstate 5 for hours in Everett.

 

Cpl. Jeremy Ballinger, of the Mukilteo Police Department, was off duty when he found the gun the suspect used to allegedly shoot at deputies, causing a rollover crash and a search that shutdown I-5.

 

“When I saw it, due to the traffic back-up and the proximity to the incident that closed I-5, I was pretty sure it was the gun that was involved, ” Ballinger said.

 

Deputies arrested Theodore Ohms, 23, at about 9 p.m. in the 7100 block of Olympic Drive, ending a massive manhunt involving officers from several police departments.

 

Ballinger was driving home from work around 6 p.m., when he was stopped by traffic on the onramp to I-5.  

 

Another officer, Mike Wheeler, was also stopped on the ramp. Knowing the wait was going to be awhile – they were there for three hours – Ballinger and Wheeler got out of their cars to chat.

 

That’s when Ballinger spotted the gun laying on the side of the road, next to the guardrail.

 

“I knew there was an incident where shots had been fired, and when I saw it, it was obviously out of place,” Ballinger said.

 

He called 911, and an officer from the Everett Police Department was sent to secure the gun.

 

A witness positively identified the gun as the same used in the shooting on I-5 to deputies from the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office.