On the morning of September 14, 2021, Karin Riebe, a 58-year-old woman in Auburn, Washington, made a series of desperate calls for help. Her 40-year-old son, Shawn, an Army veteran suffering from PTSD who had recently moved in with her, was experiencing a severe mental health crisis. She reported to a 911 dispatcher that he was acting erratically and had self-inflicted wounds on his back. The situation escalated when Shawn brandished a gun, loaded it, and ordered his mother out of her own home.
Fearing for her life, Karin called 911 again, pleading for assistance for both herself and her son.
King County Sheriff's deputies responded, but the encounter did not result in her son's removal from the home. Deputies reportedly told Karin that they did not have probable cause to make an arrest and that recent legislative changes limited their ability to intervene in a mental health crisis. They advised her to leave and wait for her son to 'cool off.' Heeding their advice, Karin left her home, expressing her terror to her sister in a final phone call. Neighbors also called 911 on her behalf, but deputies did not enter the residence or disarm Shawn.
Later that afternoon, around 1:30 p.m., after some time had passed, Karin returned to her house. Tragically, her son was still in a state of crisis. As she entered her garage, Shawn fired 12 shots, killing both his mother and her dog. Following the shooting, a large police presence responded to the scene. After a seven-hour standoff with law enforcement, Shawn Riebe was arrested. He was subsequently charged with first-degree murder with a firearm enhancement and booked into jail to await trial. In the wake of this tragedy, Karin Riebe's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the King County Sheriff's Office, alleging that their failure to arrest Shawn and protect Karin directly led to her death.
