Mukilteo House Party Shooter Allen Ivanov Sentenced to Life in Prison

"We never thought something like this could happen," friends of the three victims said after the shooting last summer. HG

UPDATE: Allen Ivanov has been sentenced to life in prison for killing three people at a house party in Mukilteo last summer. At one point during the sentencing hearing this morning, Ivanov said, “How could I have done this? I could not say,” the Seattle Times reports.

ORIGINAL POST:

Allen Ivanov is expected to be sentenced to life in prison today for a July house party shooting in which he killed three of his former classmates with an AR-15.

Ivanov later told police the shooting was sparked by his jealousy over his ex-girlfriend, 19-year-old Anna Bui, who he killed at the party. Along with Bui, Ivanov killed 19-year-olds Jordan Ebner and Jake Long, and injured Will Kramer, 18.

"Ivanov stated that everything that went on tonight was about a girl," a detective wrote in court documents after the shooting.

Later, text messages obtained by the Everett Herald showed that Ivanov talked to a friend about buying the gun and wrote, “can’t believe I bought this gun just to get back at someone.”

Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson has cited the shooting as he pushes for a ban on "semiautomatic weapons with military-style features that render them more easily concealable or more deadly" as well as a limit on magazine capacity. That proposal will face a fight in the state legislature this year.

Last month, Ivanov pleaded guilty to three counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder, making the life sentence likely. Today, friends and family members of the victims are testifying in Snohomish County Superior Court. The Seattle Times' Mike Carter is posting updates here.