Seattle Shooter To Plead Guilty
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
SEATTLE — The man accused of shooting of six people at Seattle’s Jewish Federation offices has indicated he wants to plead guilty, his attorney told a judge yesterday.
Naveed Afzal Haq is charged with murder in the death of Pamela Waechter, who was the director of the Jewish charity’s annual fund-raising campaign. He is also charged with five counts of attempted murder.
The 30-year-old said little at his brief arraignment yesterday, but his court-appointed attorney, Wesley Richards, told the judge that Mr. Haq “is indicating that it is his desire to enter guilty pleas.”
Mr. Richards said he was not aware before the hearing that Mr. Haq intended to plead guilty. At the attorney’s request, the rest of the hearing was delayed until Tuesday to give him time to determine whether Mr. Haq is competent to enter a guilty plea.
Mr. Haq is accused of forcing his way into the offices of the Seattle charity and opening fire with a handgun, saying that he was upset about the war in Iraq and American support of Israel.
He is being held in the King County jail without bail. Prosecutors have not decided whether they will seek the death penalty.
Yesterday, the judge granted a prosecution request to bar Mr. Haq from having contact with the survivors of the shooting or volunteers and employees of the Jewish Federation.
