The confrontation with Christopher Mott unfolded before officers discovered his 79-year-old mother fatally stabbed inside a nearby apartment, police say.
RENTON, Wash. — A Renton police officer suffered serious injuries to his face and right eye while pursuing a man who authorities later accused of killing his mother, linking a violent encounter with police to a separate homicide discovered only after the suspect was under arrest.
The officer survived and was later recovering at home, but authorities said it was initially too early to determine whether the injury would cause permanent vision loss. The man accused of attacking him, 42-year-old Christopher Mott, now faces first-degree assault along with first-degree murder and first-degree burglary in the death of his mother, 79-year-old Colleen Marie McCue. Mott pleaded not guilty Aug. 11. A judge continued his bail at $5 million, and local reporting listed an Oct. 5 trial date. The accusations remain unproven as the King County case moves through court.
The confrontation began with a call that did not initially describe either a homicide or an injured officer. Shortly before midnight Aug. 3, police were dispatched to the Cedar River Terrace Apartments on Burnett Avenue South after 911 callers reported breaking glass and other suspicious sounds. Some early information suggested that a vehicle might have hit the building or that a gunshot had struck a glass door. Officers instead arrived to find the front entrance damaged. A metal parking sign or post nearby had been twisted, and the glass doors were broken, according to the probable cause statement cited by local news reports.
While officers worked to understand the scene, they spotted a man later identified as Mott, investigators say. Police allege that he ran when officers tried to contact him. During the chase, one officer said Mott drew a long dark object from his waistband and moved toward him. That officer, who had his firearm drawn, stumbled backward and fell while Mott continued running. Another officer kept pursuing him. The second encounter would become the basis for one of the most serious charges in the case.
According to the police account, Mott turned toward the pursuing officer and used a knife during the confrontation. The officer was wounded around his face and right eye. Police then used an electrical control device, and Mott dropped the knife before being taken into custody, the probable cause account says. Medical personnel documented facial injuries, and early court reporting said the officer had a significant eye injury and was awaiting surgery. Police later reported that he had left the hospital and was recovering at home, although his long-term prognosis had not yet been established publicly.
Only after the arrest did the scope of the incident widen. Investigators say Mott made statements suggesting that something had happened to his mother. One reported statement amounted to an admission that he had killed her. Police and court records also attribute another statement to him saying that it “felt great.” The remarks are allegations from the official account and will be considered within the broader criminal case. Authorities have not publicly announced a motive in the reports reviewed, and Mott’s not guilty plea means the prosecution must prove the charges rather than rely on the alleged statements alone.
Officers then returned their attention to Cedar River Terrace. Police contacted apartment management and reviewed surveillance video, which investigators said showed Mott damaging the front entrance with the metal sign or post shortly before midnight. Officers also went to the apartment associated with his mother. The probable cause account described blood in areas leading toward the unit. Inside, officers found an adult woman dead. She was later identified as McCue, Mott’s mother. Authorities reported that she had suffered multiple sharp-force injuries.
The discovery changed the case from an assault-on-an-officer investigation into a combined homicide, burglary and assault prosecution. At Mott’s first appearance, a judge found probable cause to detain him while police and prosecutors completed the early charging process. The initial arrest-stage allegations included second-degree murder involving domestic violence and first-degree assault. The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office later filed first-degree murder, first-degree burglary and first-degree assault charges, with deadly weapon allegations attached, according to news reports describing the charging decision.
The burglary charge reflects prosecutors’ allegation that Mott forced his way into the apartment building before the killing. Investigators relied in part on the damaged entrance and surveillance footage when describing that sequence. The murder charge concerns McCue’s death inside her residence, while the assault count concerns the officer wounded during the pursuit. Although the accusations arise from one chain of events, each charge addresses a different alleged act and will require prosecutors to establish the required elements in court. The charging documents describe the state’s case; they are not findings that Mott committed the crimes.
McCue’s death was investigated with assistance from the King County Medical Examiner’s Office, while the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab was also identified in early court reporting as processing evidence. Police did not initially release her name as confirmed while officers were still working through the scene. Subsequent reporting identified her as the 79-year-old victim and Mott’s mother. The investigation included physical evidence from the building, the knife police said they recovered near Mott, surveillance material, officer observations and statements authorities attribute to the defendant.
For the police department, the wounded officer’s recovery has remained a second continuing consequence of the case. FOX 13 Seattle reported after Mott’s arraignment that the officer was home and improving, though police described the recovery as slow. The department had not yet determined whether the damage to his right eye would lead to permanent vision loss. No later authoritative medical update was located for this report, so the eventual extent of the injury remains unclear. The officer’s name appeared in early court-related reporting as Kauppila, although the department’s later public updates focused primarily on his condition.
Mott’s arraignment moved the case beyond the first days of emergency response and evidence collection. He pleaded not guilty to all three filed charges, and the judge left bail at $5 million. That plea does not require Mott to prove anything; prosecutors carry the burden of proving the criminal allegations. The reported Oct. 5 trial date provides the next major scheduled milestone, although court calendars can change. No report reviewed here indicated that the charges had been dismissed, reduced or resolved after the arraignment.
The case therefore remains active on two fronts: the prosecution arising from McCue’s death and the assault allegation involving the officer injured during the pursuit. McCue’s death, the officer’s recovery and the allegations surrounding Mott’s conduct all stem from the same late-night response, but the final legal conclusions have not been reached. Mott remains accused, not convicted, as the case proceeds in King County Superior Court.
Author note: Last updated September 21, 2026.