Several days after police shot down a gunman at Clark Elementary school, the sheriff’s office is still trying to piece together what exactly happened that day.

Ronald W. Ficker, 51, was shot five times by four Issaquah police officers, after he reportedly walked through south downtown Issaquah baring two rifles, and carrying 952 rounds of ammo.

Police painted a picture of a disturbed and possibly mentally ill man, who hid behind a berm and fired 11 shots at five officers on the school playground.

It was a “deadly mixture” of factors – fire arms, large groups of people and a suspect willing to shoot, said Steven Strachan, Chief Deputy at the King County Sheriff’s Office, which is investigating the incident.

“Five Issaquah officers were put into the middle of that,” he said in a press conference. “I believe in my heart that they saved lives, perhaps a lot of lives.”

Police first interacted with Ficker Sept. 15, when he walked into the Issaquah Police Station openly carrying a sidearm at his hip. He told the officer that he had concerns for his safety, because he had an invention that would save the planet.

Ficker willingly surrendered his firearm to police, while they checked to make sure he possessed it legally. It was a peaceful conversation, and the officer had no legal way to detain him.

The day before the shooting, Ficker rented a 2011 silver Kia Forte with California plates, which was similar in size and shape to his Hyundai.

By time police seized the car the next day, he had driven 450 miles. It’s still a mystery where Ficker drove. Police also don’t know where the car he owns is located, and have no leads to where it might be.

An officer made contact with Ficker again, after seeing his rental on the side of the road the morning of the shooting. The officer stopped, but found Ficker walking with a gas can to fill the car. Not seeing anything unusual, the officer moved on.

The car ran out of gas again at 11:11 a.m. on Front Street and Newport Way. Ficker abandoned the car, and carrying two rifles, filled his pockets with ammo.

He walked by the Julius Boehm Pool to Issaquah Middle School, where he fired a single round. He then continued walking toward Second Avenue.

Police are still trying to sort out statements from several witnesses, many who reported Ficker’s whereabouts, Strachan said.

At 11:38, an anonymous caller told dispatch he had seen the gunman behind Clark Elementary School.

Five officers in two groups approached Ficker, who laid down in a berm about 100 yards away.

Police fired over 90 rounds using AR-15 rifles, leaving a

hole in the chain link fence behind where Ficker lay.

Ficker shot 11 rounds from a .33-caliber lever action rifle, hitting a portable classroom just inches from where officers took cover, Strachan said.

The incident ended when Ficker got up to climb a fence, which would have lead him into a neighborhood. Fearing for the neighbors, the officers shot him 5 times.

Police later found two more rifles and a shot gun in the trunk of the abandoned rental car. A hunting bow was found next to the car.

A warrant revealed Ficker’s home, which was once orderly, in disarray with a “great deal of rotting food.” Officers also found 10 empty half-gallon Vodka bottles, Strachan said.

In days leading up to Sept. 24, Ficker reportedly told people to “watch the news” because “something big is going to happen,” Strachan said.

Members of the Sherriff’s office, Police Chief Paul Ayers and Mayor Ava Frisinger praised the department for its quick response in finding and eliminating the threat.

If police hadn’t stopped Ficker, “God knows what he would have done,” said Sheriff’s Sgt. Jim Laing. “(The police) did exactly the right thing in stopping him from getting away.”

There hasn’t been an incident like this in Issaquah history, although there has been an officer-involved shooting in the past five years, Ayers said.

“Some say it shouldn’t happened in Issaquah,” Frisinger said. “It shouldn’t happen anywhere.”

In addition to the two rifles recovered from the gunman at the scene of the shooting, police recovered two more rifles and a shotgun in his rental car. They also recovered a hunting bow outside of the car. The ammo in the photo represents what was left in the car, and not the 952 rounds on the suspect’s person. Submitted