'I wish I wasn't legally allowed' to buy gun, convicted teen shooter tells court
01/26/2017 1:37 pm PST
It was judgment day for a young Seattle man convicted of killing three people at a high school graduation party.
Crime Watch Daily has new video from the emotional sentencing as the shooter addressed the victims' families.
Convicted mass shooter Allen Ivanov appeared in court on Jan. 12, 2017. He spoke out for the first time as he face an assault of words from the families of his victims.
Did Ivanov take responsibility for killing three and wounding two of his friends, or is he pointing the finger somewhere else?
They never saw it coming: a gunman with an AR-15 assault rifle shoots up a party at a million-dollar home in the upscale Seattle neighborhood of Mukilteo. The friends were back from college, reunited for a carefree night of fun that turns to horror. Terrified teens cower in bathrooms and closets, their desperate phone calls pour into 911. One of the callers identifies the shooter. Tragically, three teenagers didn't make it out alive.
Allen Ivanov was no stranger to the partygoers. They were his friends and former high school classmates. But the 19-year-old was reportedly devastated after breaking up with his girlfriend, Anna Bui, of over a year. Cops say in a murderous jealous rage, the jilted lover watched and waited in his car for two hours, before crashing the party. Police report that Ivanov then crept up toward the house and ambushed his ex-girlfriend, shooting her twice in the head.
Two of Ivanov's former classmates, Jake Long and Jordan Ebner, were also killed in the horrific mass shooting. A fourth student, Will Kramer, narrowly escaped death after being shot in the back.
Crime Watch Daily Seattle affiliate KCPQ reporting that after allegedly firing about 20 bullets, Ivanov called a friend in tears, telling him: "I just killed my ex-girlfriend," then asking, "What's the best way to kill myself?"
The suspect's friends called 911. After that call, cops say, Ivanov fled the scene. Police caught him two hours later, speeding down the interstate highway.
What could have pushed the 19-year-old over the edge? On the surface, Ivanov led a charmed life: a good-looking kid from an affluent family, a sophomore at the University of Washington.
About a week before the murder spree, there were reportedly major red flags. Investigators say Ivanov bought an AR-15 rifle, saying it was for target practice. Then, before the shooting, detectives say, Ivanov identified himself in a text as "Allen Ivanov, 'future shooter.'" On Instagram, he posted a picture of the weapon he bought at a local gun shop just one week before the killings.
Shockingly, none of his friends contacted police about his text rants.
The police report says Ivanov confessed to the killings and told detectives that Anna Bui was his "dream girl" claiming that she was "the first girl he ever kissed."
Then he's booked into the system, held without bail and charged with a long list of felonies, including three counts of aggravated murder.
Five months later, and the day before the prosecutor was to announce if he would seek the death penalty, Allen Ivanov pleads guilty to three counts of aggravated first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder, ultimately saving him from a possible lethal injection.
Weeks later, at Ivanov's sentencing, it was an emotional courtroom as friends and family of victims responded, including some of the 16 others who ran for their lives that deadly night.
In one of the most pointed moments, Will Kramer's father, whose son was shot in the back but survived, told the court he's sickened by both Ivanov's murderous acts and his offensive behavior from behind bars
"Since the crime he has written rap lyrics bragging about murdering his girlfriend," said Kramer.
Reading from a prepared statement, Allen Ivanov addressed the court, describing his thoughts leading up to the deadly rampage.
"I waited outside that house for hours, my heart racing like it would explode," Ivanov said. "I pulled the trigger because I couldn't control my emotions."
Then Ivanov seemed to offer some justification for his actions:
"It was the ease of acquiring a gun that enabled me to act on my emotions. ... Even in the feverish state that I was in, I never could have done this with my hands. ... I wish I wasn't legally allowed to buy one."
In the end, Ivanov apologized.
"I am so, so sorry for causing you to be here today and for causing so much senseless pain," Ivanov said.
Afterward, the judge handed down the sentence: life in prison without parole.
"I feel that his apology was extremely insincere," said the judge.
And the family members of those so brutally murdered by him are left only to cling to their precious memories.
