LYNNWOOD—In an unexpected turn of events that began with a 4-year-old boy’s accidental shooting of his mother in their Wildwood Townhomes residence in unincorporated Lynnwood, 44-year-old David James Neff, an employee of West Coast Armory North in unincorporated South Everett, now faces a slew of felony charges—two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm, two counts of reckless endangerment (domestic violence), eight counts of possessing explosive devices, and one count of unlicensed possession of explosives—in addition to the gross misdemeanor charge of unsafe storage of a firearm in the first degree. This latest development to the story was first reported by KOMO News.
What started as a probe into the unsafe gun storage quickly escalated into a three-day search involving The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (AFT), Washington State Patrol, bomb technicians with Everett Police, and Snohomish County Sheriff Deputies court documents obtained by the Lynnwood Times revealed. Discovered were 73 firearms—most unsecured and “extremely easy” to be accessed by the two children living in the unit—over 10 homemade bombs laced with shrapnel with the “intent of killing and injuring others” according to court records, vast quantities of gunpowder (roughly 21 pounds), and what appears to be a child’s drawing depicting a potential mass shooting.
Snohomish County Prosecuting Attorney Kristina Beske-Keplinger is pursuing the case, with bail set at $1,000,000, arguing that Neff’s actions not only endangered his own family but posed a grave threat to neighbors in the connected townhome complex and possibly the community at-large.
“The magnitude of the threat that Defendant poses to this community was not fully understood until the search concluded,” Beske-Keplinger wrote in her affidavit of probable cause adding, “An individual who works at an armory would be expected to appreciate the need for firearm safety. Instead, he added bombs to unsafe situation. The Snohomish County community is now safer due to the extensive work of law enforcement.”
The situation unfolded shortly after 8 a.m., July 15, 2025, when Snohomish County Deputies responded to an assault with a deadly weapon at the townhome of Neff and Sandi Weaver, 41, a married couple in unincorporated Lynnwood. Deputies discovered Weaver bleeding from a gunshot wound to her left arm by a Glock 19X handgun, inflicted by her 4-year-old son as she showered—the boy’s father, Neff, was asleep.
The child suffered a minor injury under his right eye—likely from the gun’s recoil—and was treated on scene alongside his sibling, 9-year-old child.
Weaver was rushed to Harborview Medical Center for treatment of serious but non-life-threatening injuries, while the children were placed with relatives for their safety.
Deputies described Neff as “pale, sweating, and eerily calm” during initial questioning, raising suspicions of narcotic influence—confirmed when a search yielded suspected narcotics and a possible meth pipe.
Neff admitted to carrying the loaded Glock daily with a round chambered and revealed he had 13 registered firearms locked in safes, but a safety sweep quickly contradicted his claims.
In one upstairs bathroom adjacent to the shooting site, officers found two unsecured AR-style rifles with loaded magazines and a suspected meth pipe nearby. Blood, flesh fragments, and a warm 9mm casing littered the scene, with a bullet lodged in the shower wall.
What followed was a tense three-day search warrant execution granted by Judge Karen Moore that uncovered a cache of weapons, explosive devices and munitions: 73 firearms scattered unsafely throughout the home, including five short-barreled rifles and a bump stock, 10 suspected explosive devices—tubular items filled with black powder, wires, and added metal fragments like nails and screws designed to act as shrapnel. Large containers of gunpowder, primers, and bullet-making components were stashed in the garage behind a curtain.
The Washington State Patrol bomb squad was called multiple times to safely remove and assess the devices, evacuating neighbors for hours at a time, according to court documents.
On July 28, a joint team of technicians from various agencies deconstructed eight bombs, confirming explosive powder and deadly components; others were too volatile and had to be detonated after X-rays revealed their contents.
Investigators also discovered what appeared to be a child’s drawing bearing Neff’s name of a mass shooting.
The Washington Department of Labor and Industries later confirmed Neff held no license to possess, manufacture, or store explosives, leading to additional felony charges.
Neff has no prior juvenile nor adult misdemeanors nor felonies. As of August 5, 2025, he remains in custody at Snohomish County Jail, with a jury trial date set for September 26, 2025, with Judge Paul Thompson presiding.
Author: Mario Lotmore
