Here’s what caused police to close I-5 through Bellingham Monday and Tuesday afternoons
Two men walking along and through traffic on Interstate 5 in Bellingham — one reportedly carrying a handgun and the other with a kitchen knife — forced police to close the freeway in two separate incidents Monday and Tuesday afternoon.
Both men were eventually taken into protective custody and taken to St. Joseph hospital for further evaluation, Lt. Claudia Murphy told The Bellingham Herald in an email Wednesday evening, Dec. 22.
The freeway was closed in both directions for 73 minutes on Monday, Dec. 20, and 39 minutes on Tuesday, Dec. 21, according to Washington State Department of Transportation alerts. Both incidents created miles-long backups.
Monday’s incident
The Bellingham Police Department was called to assist the Washington State Patrol, which had responded to a man walking on I-5 between Iowa Street and Sunset at approximately 12:43 p.m. Monday, Murphy reported.
WSDOT reported the freeway was closed in both directions at 1:12 p.m.
“The male was reported to have a handgun and WSP had shut down freeway traffic in both the north and south bound lanes to ensure the safety of the public,” Murphy wrote in her email to The Herald.
Bellingham police responded with the department’s armored rescue vehicle and less lethal force options to deescalate the situation, Murphy reported, while crisis negotiators also attempted to speak to the man to end the incident peacefully.
“Throughout the next hour, the male shouted and screamed at officers trying to force a confrontation and he eventually got off the freeway and into the neighborhood in the 1000 block of E. Maryland,” Murphy wrote.
Police followed him into the neighborhood and continued to try to negotiate with him, Murphy reported, but he became “increasingly hostile and more agitated.”
Police decided to use a taser to prevent the man from hurting himself or forcing a violent confrontation, according to Murphy, and that allowed officers to place him in protective custody and take him to the hospital.
Once the man was in custody, the freeway was reopened at 2:25 p.m., according to WSDOT alerts.
Tuesday’s incident
Bellingham police were again requested by the State Patrol to assist with a man on I-5 north of Sunset Drive at approximately 12:43 p.m. Tuesday, Murphy reported. He was not the same man involved in Monday’s incident.
“The male was running through both northbound and southbound lanes of travel with a large kitchen knife,” Murphy wrote. “Vehicles on the freeway were having to break aggressively to avoid hitting the man with the knife.”
WSDOT reported that the freeway was closed in both directions at 12:49 p.m.
Bellingham police again responded with the armored rescue vehicle and less lethal force options, Murphy reported, but this time negotiators were able to speak with the man on the rescue vehicle’s PA system, and he followed orders and surrendered peacefully.
Once he was in protective custody, the freeway reopened at 1:28 p.m., WSDOT tweeted
