Mistrial Declared in Jewish-Federation Shooting Case

The trial of the man who in 2006 allegedly shot six people at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, killing Pamela Waechter, has ended in a mistrial as the jurors could not reach a unanimous verdict on all the counts, reports The Seattle Times.

Naveed Haq, a 32-year-old man of Pakistani heritage and with a long history of mental illness, was charged with 15 counts related to the attack; he was found not guilty on one count, first degree attempted murder for the shooting of Carol Goldman. On the other counts, the jury struggled to determine whether he was not guilty by reason of insanity, as Mr. Haq has pled, and sent a note to the judge saying they could not reach a verdict.

The federation was frustrated and saddened by the news of a hung jury, though the prosecutors said they would retry Mr. Haq.

“There is no argument Haq killed [federation employee] Pam [Waechter]. There is no argument he viciously shot five others. There is no argument that he made anti-Israel and anti-Semitic statements. Somehow, all this was not enough,” said Richard Fruchter, the Jewish federation’s president.