March 9, 2013 at 10:53 AM
$1 million bail for North Seattle shooting suspect

Family and friends of Carolyn Piksa, who the Seattle Police believe was involved in a shooting on Friday at a Seattle Park Department building, were in court on Saturday during a hearing at the King County Jail. (Photo by Mike Siegel / The Seattle Times)
A judge this afternoon set bail at $1 million for a Seattle Parks and Recreation Department employee suspected of shooting a man at a parks building on Friday near Green Lake.
Carolyn “Zoom” Piksa, 46, waived her appearance during a bail hearing at the King County Jail and a judge found probable cause to hold her on investigation of first-degree assault with a deadly weapon. Several members of her family attended the hearing, but declined to comment.
Her next court appearance is Wednesday, which is also the deadline for filing criminal charges, according to Dan Donohoe, spokesman for the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
Piksa is suspected of shooting Bill Keller, the executive director of the Associated Recreation Council (ARC), just before 2 p.m. Friday at a parks maintenance building at North 82nd Street and Densmore Avenue North. ARC oversees the programs at the city’s community centers.
According to an affidavit of probable cause, Piksa then drove to the Bitter Lake Community Center, where she confronted a female employee identified by the initials “C.E.” The employee was able to escape and Piksa stole her purse and fled.
The affidavit says Keller and “C.E” identified Piksa as the suspect.
The document did not indicate a possible motive for the shooting.
Police used Piksa’s cellphone signal to trace her to her home in Burien around 5 p.m. She came out unarmed immediately after she was ordered to over a loudspeaker, police said.
Piksa has been a parks-department employee since 1986. She is an assistant coordinator for community centers, and worked at several of them around the city, including Miller Community Center and Montlake Community Center, according to city records.
Earlier today, Keller’s condition was upgraded from critical to serious, according to a nursing supervisor at Harborview Medical Center.
Piksa’s nephew, Cody Shearer, of Seattle, said his aunt’s behavior changed drastically after her dog Roulette was killed during a break-in at her Burien home in July. After that incident, she was terrified to return home and slept at the homes of friends and in her vehicle, he said.
Shearer said Piksa had recently been on disability and was being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder.
Comments | More in The Blotter | Topics: Seattle Police Department, shooting
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