Accused Green Lake shooter says she nearly shot second employee
»Play Video
SEATTLE -- A Seattle Parks Department employee accused of shooting a coworker at a Green Lake maintenance building Friday told detectives she would have shot another employee if she hadn't given the right answers.
Carolyn "Zoom" Piksa remains held on $1 million bail as prosecutors on Wednesday charged Piksa with assault in the shooting that left fellow employee Bill Keller wounded.
In an interview with detectives after her arrest, Piksa claimed that Keller and another employee had been involved in what she described as a "game of manipulation" in which Piksa felt she could never win. Piksa believed the two had conspired to remove contact information from her cell phone, take money from her bank account and had caused noises at night which prevented her from sleeping, according to court documents.
She told detectives she wanted to "get out of the game" so she grabbed a gun from her truck and went into Keller's office around 2 p.m., the documents said.
Piksa confronted Keller and told detectives when Keller didn't give the answers she wanted to hear, she pulled out her gun and pointed it at his head. She claimed Keller pointed to his chest and told her to shoot him, according to the documents.
Keller, in an interview with detectives from his hospital bed, gave a slightly different account. He said he pleaded with Piksa not to shoot him in the head and that Piksa lowered the gun, checked the chamber for ammunition, then raised the gun and shot him in the chest.
As Keller lay bleeding on the floor, Piksa left the office, grabbed her lunch from the refrigerator, then went to the Bitter Lake Community Center, investigators said.
There, she confronted another employee who she believed was in on the "game of manipulation." Upon entering her office, Piksa first asked her if she had spoken to Keller. When the employee said no, Piksa replied: "Maybe I should just shoot you now!" The employee responded: "Don't talk like that" and began to leave, but Piksa tried to block her exit, investigators wrote. Piksa pulled out a gun but the employee managed to run away, yelling to staff members that Piksa had a gun and to evacuate the building.
Piksa left in her truck and was arrested about two hours later at her Burien home.
In her interview with detectives, Piksa said had the Bitter Lake employee given the wrong answers to her questions and not run out of the office, she would have shot her too. She said it was time to "put her cards on the table" and "now I'm out of the game."
Piksa's next court appearance is scheduled for March 27. Keller is still recovering at Seattle's Harborview Medical Center and has been upgraded to satisfactory condition.
Carolyn "Zoom" Piksa remains held on $1 million bail as prosecutors on Wednesday charged Piksa with assault in the shooting that left fellow employee Bill Keller wounded.
In an interview with detectives after her arrest, Piksa claimed that Keller and another employee had been involved in what she described as a "game of manipulation" in which Piksa felt she could never win. Piksa believed the two had conspired to remove contact information from her cell phone, take money from her bank account and had caused noises at night which prevented her from sleeping, according to court documents.
She told detectives she wanted to "get out of the game" so she grabbed a gun from her truck and went into Keller's office around 2 p.m., the documents said.
Piksa confronted Keller and told detectives when Keller didn't give the answers she wanted to hear, she pulled out her gun and pointed it at his head. She claimed Keller pointed to his chest and told her to shoot him, according to the documents.
Keller, in an interview with detectives from his hospital bed, gave a slightly different account. He said he pleaded with Piksa not to shoot him in the head and that Piksa lowered the gun, checked the chamber for ammunition, then raised the gun and shot him in the chest.
As Keller lay bleeding on the floor, Piksa left the office, grabbed her lunch from the refrigerator, then went to the Bitter Lake Community Center, investigators said.
There, she confronted another employee who she believed was in on the "game of manipulation." Upon entering her office, Piksa first asked her if she had spoken to Keller. When the employee said no, Piksa replied: "Maybe I should just shoot you now!" The employee responded: "Don't talk like that" and began to leave, but Piksa tried to block her exit, investigators wrote. Piksa pulled out a gun but the employee managed to run away, yelling to staff members that Piksa had a gun and to evacuate the building.
Piksa left in her truck and was arrested about two hours later at her Burien home.
In her interview with detectives, Piksa said had the Bitter Lake employee given the wrong answers to her questions and not run out of the office, she would have shot her too. She said it was time to "put her cards on the table" and "now I'm out of the game."
Piksa's next court appearance is scheduled for March 27. Keller is still recovering at Seattle's Harborview Medical Center and has been upgraded to satisfactory condition.
When does the movie air??
I see an insanity plea in her future.
Why Yes Carolyn, Yes indeedie you are Out of the Game!
Sad about this. Mental illness is on the rise in our State, I can see a Twinkee defense. But in a serious aspect of our lives we need to look at GMO food and other factors that are causing mental illness. Â Too many shootings.
 She should, I hope have friends and relatives that give her support.
Go directly to the electric chair & do not pass "GO". We know everything about the "accused shooter, but very little about the victim. Her defense is at work via the media.
why is she still being called "accused shooter" after she has admitted to it ? I understand the concept of innocent until proven guilty, but this is a little absurd.
Damn shame she did not run into another person who also had a gun and knew how to use it. See how fun the âgameâ was then.
Everyone is delusional, just to a different degree. Or as they say, perception is reality. It does not matter how crazy you are, punishment is just the same. We can argue culpability all day long, but there is no justice system that could determine a percentage of guilt and hand down a proportionate punishment.
Trying to understand crazy is like trying to nail Jello to a tree
@swansong68 I'd use finger jello! :)
As I guessed before - probably Depression with Psychotic features. Now hearing what her motive is, it does not surprise me one bit. For those that have delusions, they are REAL to them. Telling someone with delusions that it is not real, is like telling you you didn't work all day (when you know darn well you did). Did you?Â
Paranoid delusions are very hard to "treat" too because these people know that you are actually giving them something to control their minds. Therefore even if the Zyprexa or Seroquel you try to give them might have helped (which often then don't anyhow), they won't take it. You're trying to kill them after all.
I knew an older nurse (Mildred) who had a long successful career. Then, after some sort of abdominal surgery she became delusional. For her it was completely fixed. She believed that when the doctors did the surgery, they placed an electrode inside her so 'they' could read her thoughts through the TV.
I knew a gentleman (Robert) who had a "red phone to the president" and any time something didn't go his way, or "they" were conspiring against him, he'd threaten to use it.Â
It is really quite common.
@Thunder ummm, how many others did you personally know this well?
@Nancy Smith You have no idea what you're talking about. Way to overgeneralize to try to make a completely invalid point.
this poor woman is a victim AND insane so she'll maybe spend a few months in jail.....poor poor little thing.
"Ding-Dong... Anybody home?"
It is sad, but this woman has clearly just suffered more than she was capable of enduring: the murder-by-execution of her sister years ago (doubtless praying on her mind and heart ever since) and the senseless killing of her beloved pet dog by an intruder in her home recently. Maybe there was more than this, even.Â
People break: that is just a fact of life. Unfortunately, when people break and they have access to handguns, BAD things happen.
@JLS1950 People do break, however the trick is to be always be nice to people so that if you ever encounter breaking person, your words can lift them up, even for that moment and they may think twice about their actions, or even appreciate your kindness. They may decide to take a non-voilent approach, or even spare your life in that moment. Nobody ever remembers critics, people that get you down, etc.... but no-one ever forgets someone that picked them up and helped them out when they were down.
@keepthepeace28@JLS1950 Well, this is all very fine and good. But when the broken person already has your face in their mental crosshairs - and they have a handgun - all the kind words and actions in the world may not help you. Gloria Leonidas had no unkind words for Ian L. Stawicki, but he shot her to death in the process of stealing her SUV after already killing four and wounding one or two others at Cafe Racer. Kind words rarely stop bullets.Â
She's below the continuum on the hot/crazy scale...Â
She sounds like she is mentally ill, suffering from Paranoid psychosis. The reality is, she really believed what her brain was telling her. I'm so sorry she shot Mr. Keller. Her illness needs to be treated. I've recently realized that mental illness can hit anyone, at any time, without warning. And in the majority of cases (of mental illness) the person who has it didn't do anything to cause it, and the illness needs to be treated, while making sure they don't hurt others.
I pray Mr. Keller makes a full recovery.
I'm gonna Zoom-zoom-zoo-ma-Zoom!!
This sounds like paranoia and fits the description her nephew has previously given. Schizophrenia maybe. My father sadly has the same delusional paranoia - I'm fairly sure that its due to the many years that he was addicted to crack. No official diagnosis since he refuses to get help but he's constantly convinced that there's a couple people out there that are truly out to get him, bugging his phone, breaking into his house to change the time on his clock etc. Just complete crazy pants. Her behavior is still inexcusable but how do you tell a crazy person that and have it actually make a difference?
@MoLa Worked for a guy who did the same thing. At the time I was a teenager and thought I could help him by proving nobody was hacking into his computer at night. Of course, it wasn't long until I was somehow part of the conspiracy, and it wasn't long after that I left never to return. I don't think there's a person out there who can convince him that the delusions are in his head, and he won't take medicine for it. Sad.
@Just_Mike it really is sad. For my dad it's cost nearly everything he ever had, every friendship, can't hold a job and he is held hostage by his disease. It's helpless for the family members and heartbreaking for all. You can't argue with crazy and they don't even know they're the crazy ones!
@MoLa That's the problem. You can't talk a crazy person out of being crazy. Anything you say becomes part of the "conspiracy." My company has been harassed by a schizophrenic woman from California for a couple of years now. She keeps getting new email addresses when we block her old ones. Once she actually sent us a lucid email saying that she was sorry, that she was back on her meds, etc. A few days later she started up with the crazy stuff again.
@Sutekh @MoLa   new terrorist methods, no need to hack into the system, just mess with the employees heads from far away?
From what I understand, there was an extreme amount of manipulation and wrong doing going on at Desmore CC.
@kathleen collins Who are you to say that? You have no idea what goes on at that facility as evidenced by your erronous reference to it being a community center. Lying is no way to get attention.  If you have a concience now is the time to be ashamed.
Sounds like this mean old woman is making stuff up in preparation for an "insanity" plea. Hopefully, judges and jurors will see through her blatant ruse. I say, life without parole. I know that liberals may disagree, since libs tend to adore criminals and go very soft on them compared to conservatives.
@Whobeke LIfe without parole... SHE DIDN'T KILL ANYBODY, you idiot!! That takes up so much tax dollars it's not even funny. Now that Michael guy who just killed his grandparents- life without parole for him. For this woman, 15-20 years should be fine. She didn't kill this guy, plus he sounds like a jerk anyway.
@keepthepeace28 @Whobeke Â
She committed an attempted murder as opposed to a murder. That's why the penalty should be life without parole as opposed to the gallows.
@Whobeke@keepthepeace28Â
 LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE - for ATTEMPTED murder ?  It's thinking like that that made rape a capital crime and how many women needlessly died when the rapist figured out that he had nothing to lose if he killed his victim? Good intentions - paved the highway to hell.
@PilonidalCyst .....That was a terrific movie...!!
You sound like the lawyer in "Idiocracy." It's best to stop before you hurt your brain, as it were.
@keepthepeace28 @Whobeke Bill Keller "sounds like a jerk?" Please, just stop. You obviously don't know anything about this.
@Sutekh @keepthepeace28 @Whobeke It doesn't sound like you do either, so who are you to form an opinion or tell me what to do? You weren't involved in the situation so your comment holds no grounds, so can it.Â
Yikes. Sounds like an insanity plea. And she actually sounds like the real thing.
Seems to be a lot more to this story thats not being told...
@Windowseat Exactly. There's always two sides to a story, and generally a reason to every reaction. Maybe Bill isn't the golden boy everyone thinks he is and was a real bully/jerk to her. You can't expect to be an ass to people and not have consequences. If he would've been nice, this whole situation probably wouldn't have arose to begin with, sounds like.Â
Do you know any of the parties personally? It sounds like you do. Please provide some insight. Why do you say Bill might have deserved to be almost murdered? I'm honestly curious.
@keepthepeace28 @Peregrine  The only lesson here is for you. You have no idea what you're talking about or who these two people are. I know both of them, I work with them and I was there. You are completely wrong in your assumptions and I appeal to your 'higher side' and ask that you stop defaming the good name of Bill Keller. Â
WHOA-A-Hold on there QuickDraw McGraw! This woman is clearly suffering from some form of mental illness or a nervous breakdown.
Whether or not her victims should have been "nicer" to her has NO BEARING on her choice to shoot him and the other woman /coworker "if she didn't give the correct answers" and hadn't run away. I feel bad for you if you've also been bullied but this does NOT give you a right to go shoot someone.
@Peregrine I don't know any of the parties. But, I'm really nice to people and I have been bullied and had people be rude and a total jerk to me for no reason.. so I can understand how she would feel. It's like being hated on and targeted for people trying to take you down and be mean to you for no apparent reason, and I'm not down with that. I'm not excusing what she did, and she should not have shot this person... but it doesn't mean that he is totally innocent here to. It's like calling a black person the N word and not expecting to get punched in the face or worse- you can't torment someone and be a jerk to them and then be surprised when they re-act. How about just be nice to people, hold your tounge and treat them professionally in the workplace, as not to ignite a horrific situation as this case did. If he would have been nicer to her and not threatened her well-being, this situation never would have happened.Â
She definitely needs to be punished and should not have shot this person. I do feel bad for him that way. However, lesson for him to be nicer to people and choose his actions more wisely in the future, same with her. Sounds like a good lesson for everybody that "what goes around comes around." So, put good out there, and be nice to people and good will come back to benefit you. Put bad out there and do wrong by people (whether socially, ethically, at work, etc) and chances are bad is going to come back to you.
What a crazy hood rat!
@Larry Bernandez Gosh what a sensitive and insightful post you made! It speaks volumes about your empathy to a mentally troubled woman who honestly believed two people were stalking her, doing weird things around her home, damaging her professionally, etc.
I do hope she goes to prison for what should be the charge of attempted murder, but I still hope she gets the help she needs as well.
Now that she has harmed someone she can get the help she so desperately needed.  Oh wait, society is going to throw her in jail and call it good.  The truly criminal act in this whole tragic event was lack of mental health care BEFORE someone was injured.
Piksa should not have shot these men... but to be honest they shouldn't have played the crooked game either. You can't expect to screw people over and not pay consequences in this world. Even though this Bill Keller guy got shot, maybe he was asking for it? I mean, you can't constantly manipulate people, mock them, etc... and not expect anything to happen- Lesson for all the bullies and people that are rude out there JUST TO BE JERKS. In human law, he's just as guilty as her.... in criminal law, she's the only one responsible. But, it just comes down to BEING A GOOD PERSON and not manipulating, or preying on people weaker than you. This Bill idiot sounds like a jackass. I'm not condoning that she shot him, but I'm a big believer in "what goes around comes around." So, if you want good things to happen to you (not being shot in his case), then maybe he should have been nice to her and not tried to do manipulating actions.Â
@keepthepeace28 This chick is off her rocker, Sounds like you are too.
@keepthepeace28Oh..... kay.
@Sutekh @keepthepeace28 What, do you have a question?
@keepthepeace28Â @Sutekh Well, "why do you keep posting ridiculous crap" for a start.
@keepthepeace28Â What evidence has she provided that they actually were doing the things she says they were doing? I mean you honestly think these men stood outside of her home making noises so that she couldn't sleep?
@sure thing @keepthepeace28 Probably not, but they still could be being hella rude and bullying her. I do believe the threatening to take numbers out of her phone.. which is a big deal because most people don't have a second copy of someone's #, other than their cell phone (nobody writes the # down on a piece of paper these days)... and taking money from your bank account, that is definitely messed up- deserves a huge punch in the face for sure. Not a gunshot, but I would've swung on somebody for threatening to do that. It's just sounds like he was being a real jerk- if you choose to act like that, the wrong person is going to swing at you or shoot you. It's just common sense- same thing as calling a black person the N word... you can't expect to NOT get your butt kicked or shot at for that. Same concept here, just different words/actions.Â
@PilonidalCyst lol, maybe not. I tend to get a little passionate with what I say sometimes after a few cups.Â
Maybe coffee in the afternoon is not a good idea for you.
@keepthepeace28Â @sure thing What evidence do you have that ANY OF THIS IS TRUE?
For Pete's sake.