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Mar 10, 2012

U.S. News: Cops close in on suspect in Washington state courthouse attack

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thumbnail Cops close in on suspect in Washington state courthouse attack
Mar 10th 2012, 18:30

By msnbc.com staff and news services

Grays Harbor Co. Sheriff's Office

Steven Daniel Kravetz and his mother, Roberta L. Dougherty, are being sought.

Updated at 4:27 p.m. ET: Authorities searching for a man suspected in a courthouse attack in Montesano, Wash., on Saturday surrounded the home of his mother, according to media reports.

The mother of 34-year-old Steven Daniel Kravetz called Thurston County authorities after police released a flier with her and her son's photo. The mother, Roberta L. Dougherty, told authorities her son was at her home in Oympia, The Seattle Times reported.

Kravetz is suspected of stabbing a judge and shooting a sheriff's deputy with her own weapon in a courthouse struggle in the coastal town of Montesano in Grays Harbor County, which is about about 90 miles southwest of Seattle and just west of Thurston County.


"He acted alone and we know him to be the assailant," Grays Harbor County Sheriff's Undersheriff Rick Scott said earlier Saturday. "We're operating under the belief that he's still armed."

Kravetz fled the courthouse with the officer's .45-caliber handgun after Friday's attack and showed up about an hour or so later at the office of his former attorney and asked to the use the phone, Scott said.

The attorney had represented Kravetz a number of years ago and "didn't know anything was up," Scott said.

Investigators believe Kravetz called his mom at about 3 p.m. and that she apparently gave him a ride out of the area, Scott said.

"We don't know what her knowledge or involvement is," the undersheriff said, adding: "We're concerned for her welfare. We don't know what his mental, emotional state was following the incident."

Around noon Friday, the deputy responded to a report of a suspicious person at the courthouse and confronted a man, Scott said. During a struggle, she was stabbed with either a small knife or scissors.

The judge intervened, striking the assailant, who then stabbed him, authorities said.

Davin reached for her gun, but it was wrestled away by the man, who shot twice, striking her in the shoulder before fleeing, Scott said.

Both the judge and the sheriff's deputy were treated and released from a hospital hours after the attack.

Kravetz has 2008 felony convictions in Washington's for third-degree assault with a weapon and making a false statement to a public servant, according to court records, The Seattle Times reported. He was arrested after he refused to cooperate with police after being kicked out of a Centralia public library, Centralia police Sgt. Stacy Denham told the newspaper.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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