4 years later, Everett victim talks of near-fatal shooting

EVERETT — John Forde could smell his own death approaching. It was the scent of blood, and of red-hot bullets burning his flesh.

He’d arrived home from work only moments earlier that evening in December 2008. His Jack Russell terrier was there to greet him inside their north Everett duplex. The dog hopped up next to him on the couch, snuggling close for a pat as Forde keyed the television remote to quickly check the score in a football game.

Movement caught his eye. A stranger stepped from behind a wall and into the living room.

You’re in the wrong house, Forde thought. What are you doing here?

There wasn’t time to ask. The man — tall, painfully thin with a droopy moustache — was pointing a handgun. His right arm was crooked at the waist, like a gangster in some noir film. Without a word, the stranger pulled the trigger.

Four bullets tore into Forde’s body. One of his lungs was punctured. Bones in both of his arms shattered. A slug tore through his torso and lodged in the muscles of his back, near his spine.

Blood. Horrible pain. Forde could smell the bullets in his body searing him from the inside.

The shooter leaned in to survey his work before swiftly walking from the home.

“Then I was like, ‘I’m dying. I’m dying,’” Forde recalled. He wasn’t going to let that happen.

He pulled himself across the room and knocked the phone from its cradle. With hands that couldn’t grasp and fingers that wouldn’t point, he somehow dialed 911.

When the dispatcher answered, “I just started screaming my name, my address. ‘I’m shot. I’m hit. I’m dying. Get somebody here.’”

He also shouted the name of the one person he could think of who would want to see him dead: his soon-to-be ex-wife, Shawna Forde.

“I said her name a hundred times. ‘I’m getting a divorce. She’s trying to kill me. Nobody would do this to me,’” he said.

That was Dec. 22, 2008.

Four years later, Everett police say they are no closer to bringing somebody to justice for John Forde’s shooting. He’s been able to identify for police a man he recognizes as the gunman, but the pick from a photo lineup wasn’t sufficient to convince prosecutors to file charges.

There simply isn’t enough evidence — so far, Everett police Lt. Robert Johns said.

“We are kind of like the guy who can see the top of the hill but we just can’t get up there and see what is on the other side,” he said.

John Forde first spoke about the shooting with The Herald nearly four years ago, while he was still recovering from his wounds. Worry that the gunman could come back and finish the job kept him from consenting to a story.

Things have changed. Late last month the man Forde says shot him, a drug-addicted felon with a long history of crime, was sentenced to five years in prison for burglarizing an Edmonds convenience store.

Shawna Forde, meanwhile, now sits on Arizona’s death row, convicted of leading a 2009 home invasion that resulted in the deaths of 9-year-old Brisenia Flores and her father. The raiders hit the home looking for loot, believing Raul “Junior” Flores was involved in trafficking in drugs smuggled across the nearby U.S.-Mexico border.

At the time of her arrest, Shawna Forde was the leader of her own Minuteman American Defense group. She left Everett for Arizona soon after her divorce became final. Police here were investigating her in connection with the attack on John Forde and a bizarre blitz of violence that followed.

Shawna Forde had claimed that John Forde’s shooting was the work of drug cartels angry over her border-security activism. She tried to bolster her story, police believe, by faking a Dec. 29, 2008, sexual assault and beating in the same home where John Forde had been shot a few days earlier. While police didn’t publicly discuss their doubts about the rape story, they privately were documenting their suspicions, records show. Then, on Jan. 15, 2009, she turned up in a north Everett alley with apparent gunshot wounds to her right arm.

Shawna Forde claimed to have been chased into the alley and shot by somebody driving an SUV. Although the bullet wounds were real, the story had holes. Months later, The Herald found witnesses who said that on the night of the shooting they received separate phone calls — at different times — in which Shawna Forde claimed she was trying to hide in the alley where she was shot. To that point, neither witness had been contacted by police.

At the time, John Forde didn’t know about the ensuing drama. His focus was on survival.

He remembers the paramedics breaking into his home the night of his shooting, getting him onto a gurney and loading him into the ambulance. Then the world seemed to shrink, his vision narrowing as his body began shutting down.

“You don’t die right away. That’s the horror, in my mind, of being shot. You know you are going to die,” he said.

Days later, he regained consciousness at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. His parents, grown children and circle of close friends were there. They’d lost him for a time and weren’t letting go.

John Forde had lived alone in the north Everett duplex he’d formerly shared with Shawna Forde. Police tracked her down while he was in surgery. Doctors placed him in a medically induced coma and listed him under a false name to protect his safety.

After the shooting, Shawna Forde didn’t alert his family to what happened. Neither did Everett police. It was one of John Forde’s commuter buddies who figured out what was going on. His family converged on the hospital.

The detective who initially handled the investigation was nearing retirement and told the injured man’s family he didn’t expect to solve the case before his career ended. When John Forde woke up, the same detective told him that odds were against somebody being arrested or charged.

John Forde told investigators about his soon-to-be-ex wife. They met when she saw him playing the drums in a cover band called Wood, and said she could get them work playing area bars and taverns. It was always an odd pairing. He had a career with a daily commute into King County. She stumbled from job to job, stirring up drama and getting fired. She sometimes disappeared for weeks. Her Minuteman activism was the final chapter and linked to a misguided notion that she could make a name for herself, and a comfortable living, railing about illegal immigrants and border security, John Forde said.

He wanted none of it, and had her served with divorce papers while she was on a trip to Arizona, supposedly overseeing volunteer border patrols.

She wanted more money out of the marriage, John Forde said. Later, she asked the paralegal assisting on the divorce what would happen if he suddenly dropped dead.

John Forde helped police prepare a sketch of the stranger who shot him.

While still in the hospital, they brought him a photo montage and asked if the gunman was among those pictured.

The men looked a lot alike, and while he thought one was a close match, he didn’t want to wrongly accuse anyone.

“I said one didn’t jump out at me,” John Forde said.

Police had at least one suspect in the mix, a frequent felon who at the time was among Shawna Forde’s associates in Everett.

The man, whom she introduced to people as “Thomas Wayne,” moved into the duplex with Shawna Forde in the days immediately after the shooting. Some people in her circle remarked on how much the man resembled the police sketch of the shooter.

It wasn’t until after Shawna Forde was arrested in connection with the Arizona killings, and the police reports about her rape claims were unsealed, that the man’s identity became public record.

Thomas Wayne Gibler, 41, has consistently denied any involvement in the attack on John Forde. According to a family member, he told police he was gambling in south Snohomish County at the time of the attack. Still, detectives included Gibler’s image in a photo lineup they showed John Forde a few months after the shooting.

The photographs were different the second time around, and John Forde said he recognized Gibler as his attacker.

By then, Gibler was locked up, serving time on his 15th felony conviction. That time, it was for a high-speed chase in Everett. In court papers on that case, he told police the chase happened as he was on his way to meet up with Shawna Forde. It was 11 days before the deadly raid in Arizona.

Gibler was released from prison in 2011 and within months was bouncing in and out of jail for a series of drug and traffic arrests. Then, this summer, he was caught on surveillance cameras burglarizing convenience stores to steal lottery tickets. Because his criminal history is so extensive, he was sentenced in November to five years in prison.

Whoever shot John Forde apparently left behind no genetic evidence. Police haven’t found a weapon to compare with the spent shell casings left at the shooting scene. Jurors expect that sort of forensic evidence in a case this serious, police say.

“We are now in a generation of jurors where they want ‘CSI,’” Johns said.

John Forde is disappointed with police progress, but has focused more on rebuilding his life. He’s undergone multiple surgeries and worked hard to regain sufficient health to return to his passion: backcountry skiing. He sold the duplex and moved. He’s careful about his surroundings and particular about personal safety.

Still, all it takes is an unexpected knock on the door to deliver a sudden jolt of terror. He knows that isn’t likely to change until somebody goes away for nearly ending his life.

“I thought I was dead,” he said.

Scott North: north@heraldnet.com; 425-339-3431.

Help police

Do you know something about John Forde’s shooting on Dec. 22, 2008. The Everett Police Department tip line is 425-257-8450.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

Employees and patrons of the Everett Mall signed a timeline mural that traces the history of the 51-year-old indoor mall that was once considered the premier place to go shopping in the city. Thursday, March 20, 2025 (Aaron Kennedy / The Herald)
Mall mural offers nostalgic trip into the past

Past and present Everett Mall employees joined customers Thursday to view an artistic timeline of the once popular shopping mecca.

Edmonds Mayor Mike Rosen gives his State of the City address on Thursday, March 20 in Edmonds, Washington. (Will Geschke / The Herald)
Edmonds mayor talks budget at 2025 State of the City

Mayor Mike Rosen discussed the city’s deficit and highlights from his first year in office.

Daron Johnson, who runs Snohomish County Scanner, stands next to his scanner setup on Tuesday, April 1 in Everett, Washington. (Will Geschke / The Herald)
Snohomish County law enforcement to encrypt police airwaves

The plan for civilian police scanners to go dark pushed a host to shut down his popular breaking news feed.

Richie Gabriel, 1, jumps off the bottom of the slide as Matthew Gabriel looks down at him from the play structure at Hummingbird Hill Park on Monday, March 31, 2025 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Edmonds residents show up for Hummingbird Hill Park, Frances Anderson Center

After a two-and-a-half hour public comment session, the council tabled its votes for the two comprehensive plan amendments.

Students Haddie Shorb, 9, left, and brother Elden Shorb, 11, right, lead the ground breaking at Jackson Elementary School on Tuesday, April 1, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Everett district breaks ground on Jackson Elementary replacement

The $54 million project will completely replace the aging elementary school. Students are set to move in by the 2026-27 school year.

Logo for news use featuring Snohomish County, Washington. 220118
Another positive measles case identified in Snohomish County

The case was identified in an infant who likely contracted measles while traveling, the county health department said.

A Tesla drives along 41st Street on Wednesday, March 26, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Washington faces uncertain future of Clean Air Act regulations

The Trump administration’s attempt to roll back numerous vehicle pollution standards has left states wondering what’s next.

A person walks through the lot at Kia of Everett shopping for a car on Tuesday, April 1, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
‘The tariffs made me do it’: Customers move fast on cars

At one Everett dealership, customers move fast on cars ahead of Wednesday’s expected announcement on tariffs.

Public’s help needed to find missing Arlington man

The 21-year-old left the house Sunday night without his shoes, cell phone or a jacket, and was reported missing the following morning.

Will Geschke / The Herald
The Marysville Tulalip Campus on the Tulalip Reservation, where Legacy High School is located.
Marysville board votes to keep Legacy High at current location

The move rolls back a decision the school board made in January to move the alternative high school at the start of next school year.

The former Marysville City Hall building along State Avenue on Tuesday, April 30, 2024 in Marysville, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
City of Marysville, school board amend property exchange

The city will relocate its public works facility to the district’s current headquarters, which will move to the former City Hall.

Snohomish County Elections employees Alice Salcido, left and Joseph Rzeckowski, right, pull full bins of ballots from the Snohomish County Campus ballot drop box on Monday, Nov. 4, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County to mail ballots for Edmonds, Brier elections

Registered voters should receive their ballots by April 9 for the April 22 special election.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.