Bellingham man accused of threatening to shoot staff, residents at a housing complex
After waiting nearly a year for an evaluation assessing his competency to stand trial for a 2021 residential burglary charge, a Bellingham man was arrested last week and charged with threatening to shoot and kill employees, residents and police responding to a permanent supportive housing complex in downtown Bellingham.
Michael Shawn Sullivan, 56, was charged May 24 in Whatcom County Superior Court with one count of felony harassment and one count of obstructing a law enforcement officer, a gross misdemeanor.
Sullivan is also facing a charge of residential burglary, a felony, in a January 2021 case, according to court records.
Court documents show Sullivan waited eight months, approximately 243 days, to receive a competency evaluation while he was out of custody for the 2021 case.
He was arrested for making the alleged threats the same day a report was submitted to the court declaring him incompetent to stand trial in the 2021 case, the records show.
Burglary case
On Jan. 13, 2021, Bellingham police responded to East Sunset Drive for the report of a neighbor dispute. The victim told police that while he was sleeping, his neighbor, later identified as Sullivan, began pounding on the wall.
Sullivan then began pounding on the windows and front door of the victim’s apartment, according to court records.
Another resident who lived at the victim’s apartment opened the door and Sullivan “shoved his way into the apartment,” pushed the second victim aside and used a racial slur, court records state.
Sullivan went to the first victim’s bedroom and kicked the door. The victim was afraid he was going to be assaulted, the records state.
Sullivan then yelled at the victim about “voices he was hearing in his head that were coming from” the victim, according to court documents.
Sullivan was charged with residential burglary in mid-January 2021 for his alleged actions.
He was released from the Whatcom County Jail in mid-February 2021 on his personal recognizance, as he had received placement in a permanent supportive housing complex and was accepted into the county’s Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion program. The LEAD program is designed to help people struggling with mental and behavioral health challenges, substance use, homelessness and extreme poverty, who have frequent interactions with law enforcement and divert them from the criminal legal system and into intensive case management, according to the county’s website.
Sullivan was expected to stay at Francis Place, a permanent supportive housing complex on Cornwall Avenue, or Base Camp, an overnight emergency shelter for people experiencing homelessness, while out of custody. His trial date in the case was continued multiple times throughout the rest of 2021 and the first seven months of 2022, court records show.
Competency evaluation
On Aug. 25, 2022, the court entered an order for Sullivan to receive an out-of-custody evaluation assessing his competency to stand trial in the burglary case.
As a reasoning for the need for an evaluation, Sullivan’s public defense attorney, John All, stated that Sullivan “believes magic was involved in the incident and is unable to assist counsel.”
Under state law, there is a target date of 21 days or less for when an out-of-custody competency evaluation and report should be completed.
Sullivan did not receive a competency evaluation until eight months later, on April 25, 2023.
A report assessing whether he was competent to stand trial in the case was not submitted to the court until one month later, on May 23, 2023, according to court records.
In total, Sullivan’s 2021 burglary case has been stayed for nine months while he awaited an evaluation. Without the evaluation and report assessing his competency, Sullivan was unable to proceed with his case or seek treatment, his defense attorney wrote in court documents.
The report submitted last week concluded that Sullivan, who meets the diagnostic criteria for unspecified schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorder, was not competent to stand trial because he lacks the current capacity to assist in his own defense, court records state.
The evaluating psychologist wrote that observed symptoms of Sullivan’s mental illness included delusional beliefs and disorganized thinking. Throughout the 75-minute evaluation, Sullivan referred numerous times to the facts of his case being related to witches, warlocks, sorcerers, human trafficking and law enforcement officers being influenced by a specific man.
His defense attorney also “had significant concerns and historical difficulties” discussing the case with Sullivan because Sullivan would direct conversations to concerns he had about witches and persecutory delusions, court records show.
The psychologist recommended that Sullivan undergo competency restoration treatment at a state psychiatric hospital and said it is “reasonably likely” that Sullivan will become competent after receiving treatment, court documents state.
Harassment arrest
The same day the report concluding Sullivan was not competent to stand trial was submitted to the court, he was arrested for allegedly threatening to shoot staff, residents and responding police officers at Francis Place.
Around 1:15 p.m. on May 23, 2023, Bellingham police responded to a call that a male resident, later identified as Sullivan, was “making threats to shoot staff, other residents, and potentially any officer that might respond” to Francis Place, according to court records.
Once police arrived, a staff member informed them that Sullivan had gone back up to his fourth-floor apartment. While officers were creating a plan, the staff member told officers Sullivan was now in the elevator and headed down to the lobby where they were, the court records state.
Officers positioned themselves in front of and on the sides of the elevator and attempted to detain Sullivan as he left the elevator. Sullivan attempted to get away from the officers stating that he had not done anything. Eventually, Sullivan began moving backward toward the elevator.
At this point, officers subdued him and placed him in handcuffs.
After Sullivan was detained, two front desk employees told police Sullivan was making threats to shoot another resident. One of the employees told officers that the resident “fled the complex out the back door when (Sullivan) began ranting and threatening to shoot people,” according to court records.
Francis Place staff also went into lock-down due to Sullivan’s alleged threats, court documents state.
Sullivan’s defense attorney, John All, declined to comment when asked by The Herald to address the delays in Sullivan getting a competency evaluation, whether the recent charges impacted his enrollment in the county’s LEAD program or to provide a comment on his client’s behalf.
All said by email Tuesday that while he would like to help, he could not comment due to “various privacy laws, rules, and regulations involved with ongoing legal and competency proceedings of this type.”
Upcoming hearing
At Sullivan’s first court appearance in the felony harassment case on May 24, the court ordered Sullivan to receive an in-custody competency evaluation.
Under state law, Sullivan is expected to receive a competency evaluation within 14 days of the court’s order. His case is stayed in the meantime.
Sullivan is currently incarcerated in the downtown Whatcom County Jail.
His next court appearance, in which a judge is expected to rule on his competency to stand trial in the harassment case, is tentatively scheduled for June 8, according to court records.
This story was originally published June 1, 2023 at 7:29 AM.
