'I drop an entire magazine': Neighbor shares story about saving Whatcom Co. deputies
WHATCOM COUNTY, Wash. - FOX 13 News spoke to a man who helped save the lives of two Whatcom County deputies during a shooting last week.
Investigators say deputies arrived to a neighborhood on Green Valley Drive, responding to a gunshot that was fired during a dispute between neighbors.
When deputies arrived on scene, investigators say a 60-year-old man shot at them.
"You hear a shot ring out, and officer Thompson fell backwards," said Cody Deeter.
Deeter lives a few houses away from where the suspect lives. He says he was outside when the suspect fired the first shot.
"We got the kids inside and went in and got our weapons," he said.
Deeter said when deputies first arrived things had quieted down. He said the suspect had gone back inside.
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Whatcom County deputies shot had been with the department for nearly 30 years combined
A bystander fired back at a suspect who police say shot two Whatcom County deputies in the head after a dispute between neighbors in Maple Falls, Washington.
But the peace would not last.
He said one of the deputies was shot and went down and the other deputy was hit while responding. Deeter said he ran toward the gunshots.
"That’s when I stepped around the corner, and I drop an entire magazine at this guy," he said.
Deeter helped to pull the first deputy hit out of the line of fire. He and both deputies took cover in a garage until back up arrived.
"It was nerve racking. My heart was definitely racing," he said.
Deeter says there was no question on the day of the shooting what to do.
"Those guys would take a bullet for me. They’d take a bullet for you," he said.
Sixty-year-old Joel Young is charged with two counts of attempted first degree murder and is held on a $5 million bond.
There are GoFundMe pages posted for both Jason Thompson and Ryan Rathbun, the deputies injured in the shooting.
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