Law enforcement shoot, kill man in Spanaway shootout after suspect allegedly shot at state trooper

SPANAWAY, Wash. — Officials said law enforcement shot and killed a man in a Spanaway shootout after he allegedly shot at a state trooper conducting an unrelated traffic stop.

A spokesperson for the Pierce County Force Investigation Team (PCFIT), which is now taking lead on the investigation into the deadly shooting, said the incident started on State Route 512, near Steele Street South, in Lakewood Tuesday after 10 a.m.

A state trooper was conducting an unrelated traffic stop when a suspect opened fire on them, the spokesperson said.

Pierce County deputies and Washington State troopers chased after the suspect across multiple cities as the suspect continued shooting at authorities.

“When we have someone firing at officers and we start getting behind them and chase them and they continue to fire, that’s the most dangerous person we’re dealing with at that time. If they’re willing to shoot at officers and troopers and deputies, they’re probably willing to hurt any and everybody,” said Sgt. Darren Moss, spokesperson for the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office.

The chase ended in a shootout between law enforcement and the suspect in a Spanaway neighborhood on 5th Avenue Court East, near 205th Street East.

Officials said troopers and deputies were involved in the shootout, adding that deputies fired shots at the suspect, however, it’s not clear who shot and killed him.

The suspect had multiple weapons on him, a spokesperson for PCFIT said.

We spoke with a neighbor who said he witnessed the shooting as he was taking care of his three children.

“I had my two-year-old son in my arms. I look to my left, and I hear what I now know are bullets. The deputies were shooting the man who was crouched on the ground,” Janssen Olson, a neighbor, said. “The wife came outside and yelled, ‘Stop shooting my husband.’”

Olson said the suspect was his neighbor.

“They had a nice house. They had two teenaged daughters. They seemed like pretty normal people,” he said.

Olson shared cell phone video capturing part of the deadly shooting after he grabbed his children and rushed them to a safe place inside his home.

“Picked them all up, took them to the furthest point of the house that I thought they would be the safest at,” he said.

The suspect in the video is seen exchanging gunfire with law enforcement as he’s lying in front of a white van.

“He must have been hit 15 times, shot 15 times,” Olson said.

KIRO 7 News asked investigators for more details about the suspect, including if he had lived in the neighborhood where the shootout broke out.

Detectives did not share details but said a home and a vehicle were struck by bullets.

©2024 Cox Media Group