RENTON, Wash. — A woman was shot in the head, followed by a wild scene as police tried to force the suspected shooter out of a Renton apartment. But he got away, until nearly three hours later, when police nabbed their suspect.
It started with an eviction notice delivered just before noon.
That's when police say shots were fired on Northeast Ninth Street in the Renton Highlands.
Just after 2:30 p.m., the suspect returned to the scene of the crime. Shirtless, he got out of his vehicle and walked backwards, his hands held high.
With officers at the ready, he gave himself up.
"They just stopped him about two blocks up the street," said Cmdr. Dave Liebman. "And it is the suspect. He is in custody."
It was a swift conclusion to a manhunt that began less than three hours earlier.
A woman told Renton police when she tried to serve the eviction notice, 31-year-old Joshua Gasperich greeted her at the door of his apartment with a long gun.
He fired three times, striking her once in the head.
She sought refuge at an auto detail shop next door.
A worker at the auto repair shop above saw her, too.
"We saw the lady come out from the apartments,” said Omar Tellez. “Her face was like full of blood and she ask(ed) for help."
He called 911, bringing out a swarm of police officers to the house on Ninth Street.
SWAT officers threw at least two flash-bang grenades into the house while he drove away in his vehicle.
By then, police all over the area were looking for Gasperich.
"And just a little while ago," said Liebman, "we had information from the Seattle Police Department that the suspect's car was involved in some kind of incident in downtown Seattle."
He managed to get away before SPD arrived.
Then, inexplicably, Gasperich returned to the scene of the shooting and into the waiting arms of police.
"It's very surprising," said Liebman. "We had a couple of other callers, before we talked, that said that they saw the vehicle in the area, that kind of looked like his. It clearly really was his."
When asked what's next for the suspect, Liebman said, “He’s going straight to jail."
Gasperich still had not been booked into the King County jail by 6:30 Tuesday night but he likely will be booked before night's end.
The woman he is accused of shooting is in serious condition in the intensive care unit at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
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