By Sara Jean Green
The Seattle Times
BELLEVUE, Wash. — A 38-year-old man who was shot and critically injured by a Bellevue police officer last week was charged Monday with assault, accused of luring two officers to the Bellevue Transit Center with a bogus 911 call, according to King County prosecutors.
Mohamed Bangura, who goes by “Jude,” is in police custody at Harborview Medical Center, where he is being treated for gunshot wounds to his right arm, left leg and left flank above his hip, charging papers say. He is in serious condition in the intensive care unit, according to a hospital spokesperson.
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Bangura is charged with first-degree and second-degree assault for the unprovoked attack on officers Sean Winebrenner and Guilherme Spagnolo, respectively.
Winebrenner, who was slashed across the face with a kitchen knife and stabbed twice in the back, also suffered a dislocated shoulder and broken collarbone, the charges say. He was taken to Harborview and was discharged from the hospital on Saturday, the spokesperson said.
Spagnolo dodged Bangura’s blade and fired his duty weapon six times, striking Bangura three times, according to the charges.
The apparent motive was Bangura’s animus toward another Bellevue police officer, who Bangura had filed a complaint against Thursday, a day before Friday’s shooting at the transit center at 10850 N.E. Sixth St., the charges say.
“Instead of letting that complaint process play out, he chose to arm himself with a knife and assault two other innocent, unwitting officers who thought they were responding to a call of domestic violence,” Senior Deputy Prosecutor Daniel Merrick wrote in charging papers, requesting that Bangura’s bail be set at $5 million.
In late September, a security guard at a church near the transit center found Bangura sleeping on the property and asked him to leave, according to the charges. The two got into an argument, the security guard displayed his canister of pepper spray and Bangura threatened him before leaving, the charges say.
When the manager of the security company for the church called 911 and requested a welfare check on the guard because he’d stopped answering his phone, an officer went to the church, spoke with the guard and found Bangura at the transit center. He told Bangura that he was referring a case for harassment and that Bangura would get a summons in the mail, then left, the charges say.
Bangura called 911 on Thursday to file a complaint against that officer and a sergeant called Bangura twice but could not reach him, according to the charges.
Then on Friday, a man called 911 just before 12:30 p.m., refused to identify himself and reported that a man and woman were in an argument that was escalating, telling the call taker to send “an officer or two” to the transit center, the charges say. He refused to provide additional information, the call disconnected and when the 911 call taker tried to call back, the phone call went straight to voicemail, according to the charges.
Police later determined both 911 calls were made from the same phone number, the charges say.
Investigators reviewed footage from the officers’ body-worn cameras, which showed Winebrenner and Spagnolo arrive in their patrol vehicles eight minutes after Friday’s 911 call and contact a man later identified as Bangura, charging papers say. Spagnolo stood in front of Bangura while Winebrenner stood to Bangura’s left, each officer about two arms lengths away from him.
Bangura began the conversation by saying the officer from September “tried to put a false case on me” before confirming he called to report the domestic disturbance and that his name was Jude, the charges say.
“It is important to note that both Bangura and (the) officers are calm during the conversation and there is no indication of aggressive behavior,” a detective wrote in charging papers.
When Spagnolo asked where the argument happened, Bangura looked and pointed to his right and said, “That was happening over” but didn’t finish his sentence and instead pulled a knife from his jacket and lunged at Spagnolo, the charges say. As Bangura made a downward stabbing motion, Spagnolo jumped to the right and avoided the 5-inch blade, according to the charges.
Bangura then attacked Winebrenner, slashing the right side of his face and causing him to fall to the ground, where he was stabbed twice in the back and shoulder area, the charges say. Spagnolo shot Bangura and other officers quickly arrived to render aid to Bangura and Winebrenner, according to the charges.
Police recovered a knife and Bangura’s passport at the scene, the charges say.
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