by Jerry Cornfield, Washington State Standard
June 4, 2026
Authorities arrested a man early Thursday after he allegedly broke several windows of the Washington state Capitol in an unsuccessful attempt to break in.
Using rocks and his fists, the man, described as heavily intoxicated, attempted to knock out windows on the first floor of the west side of the Legislative Building. But none of them broke as security film applied on the windows following a vandalism incident last fall held broken pieces together as intended.
“It worked. The good news is he did not get in,” Washington State Patrol spokesman Chris Loftis said Thursday morning.
The first call came in at 1:19 a.m.
When a state trooper contacted the man outside the building, the person got into a car and sped off. He drove down a utility road to reach Capitol Lake, then across a pedestrian bridge before he was apprehended by state troopers and Olympia police, Loftis said.
No officers were injured, he said.
This is the second vandalism incident in recent months on the same side of the Capitol building.
In October, a hammer-wielding man broke in through a window. Once inside, he set fires and toppled two iconic busts.
Gunnar McLean Schubert, 29, faces charges of second-degree burglary, a felony, and third-degree malicious mischief, a gross misdemeanor.
He’s out of custody and is yet to be arraigned as he awaits a court-ordered mental health evaluation to determine if he is mentally capable of proceeding with his case. If he is found incompetent, he will be admitted to an involuntary treatment facility.
Schubert’s next court appearance is Aug. 31.
This is a developing story.
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