A man who jumped in to stop a gunman at a South Sound Walmart says he was prepared to shoot. But before he could act, another man opened fire, killing the gunman who had an extensive criminal past.
The crime started with several carjackings and ended in gunfire with one man still hospitalized tonight.
This all unfolded at the Walmart in Tumwater but started at a gas station just a mile away in Olympia.
The suspect, 44-year-old Tim Day of McCleary, had a criminal record that included a history of violence. Tumwater police say he was known to them but he was not on their radar for anything like this.
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What Day may not have imagined is that he would run into two men here at the Walmart who were prepared to kill him, and one of them did.
Jesse Zamora says he was motivated into action at this Tumwater Walmart when an armed man showed up here as he and his family shopped on Father's Day.
"I wanted to make sure my family was safe and the civilians, the community," Zamora said. "Nobody deserves to die if they're innocent."
Tumwater police say Tim Day embarked on a violent crime spree just after 4:30 p.m. Sunday with an attempted carjacking in Olympia. He fled that scene and crashed his vehicle near this Toyota dealership in Tumwater. That is where he encountered 16-year-old Danner Barton.
"There was a man, blond hair, standing in the middle of the road," said Barton. "He was running at me, told me stop. He had a gun in his hand. He ended up taking one shot at my front windshield and it nicked my thumb."
So Day carjacked another vehicle and headed for Walmart.
Once inside, say police, he fired into an ammunition display case and stole ammunition. He left the store, then tried to carjack the vehicle belonging to Tyler Fievez's parents as they were trying to drive away.
"So the shooter came up to my dad's side, the driver's side," said Tyler. " Shot him twice. One in (the) shoulder, I think, one in the neck. So when he shot my dad, he looked at my mom and told my mom to get the 'F' out of the car."
His dad, Ricky Fievez, was airlifted to Harborview where he is now paralyzed from the neck down.
Meanwhile, Zamora and a second man were moving in on Day. He allegedly tried to carjack yet another vehicle, and the second man shot and killed him.
"I looked at him and I just watched him take his last breaths, which was really scary," he said.
Still, Zamora says he is no hero.
"I honestly believe if you can be there for other people, it's a selfless act," he said. "I think it's OK."
The man who shot and killed Day told police he did not want to be identified.
Cox Media Group
