South Hill homeowner says he called 911 twice to shut down party before shooting

PUYALLUP, Wash. — New body cam video has been released of Pierce County deputies arriving on the scene of a mass shooting.

The owner of the vacation rental on South Hill near Puyallup said he called 911 twice to shut the party down. But he was told it was not a “priority call.” Minutes after his second call, shots rang out.

Now one of the victims, a teenager, remains in the Intensive Care Unit. And that is actually pretty good news. That 17-year-old victim came in a private vehicle to Saint Joseph Medical Center early Sunday morning. He was in critical condition and now he’s stable.

He and five others were shot in the melee. The homeowner said it was never supposed to be this way.

It wasn’t a Veterans party?

“Definitely not!”

That is what this owner told KIRO 7 in an exclusive interview. He didn’t want to use his name.

He said he rented the South Hill property near Puyallup to a woman who told him she was planning a small Veterans party for six over the weekend. But his surveillance camera showed whatever was going on was much bigger.

What he did not know was that the party was being advertised all over social media through a pretty provocative post.

His concern?

“Well, too many people on the property,” he said. “Too many people does damage. So, I don’t want that. And I don’t want that for the neighborhood, obviously.”

So, he called 911 to get the party shut down.

“They say, ‘okay,’ they will send dispatcher to the property,” he said.

But no one came. So an hour later, he arrived himself and called 911 again.  Still no response.

“And then I heard the shootings,” the homeowner said.

Only then did deputies respond.

“Sheriff’s department,” a deputy yelled. “If anyone’s inside, make yourself known.”

By the time they arrived, six people had been shot, including a 17-year-old man who was critically injured. 

“Calling for a party complaint or an issue with a tenant renting from you is not going to be a high-priority call,” responded Pierce County Sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. Darren Moss Jr.

Sgt. Moss said they don’t have the staff to respond to calls that aren’t a high priority like a shooting.

We asked if they might have prevented the shooting had they responded sooner?

“I mean you could ‘what if’ everything to the end of days,” he said, “and say ‘well, if we had people sitting on every corner we could prevent all armed robberies.’”

Still, he said residents should call 911. Then they will have a record of what is going on in a particular neighborhood.

As for the homeowner, he said the woman who rented the house still owes him the fee of $770.

And he is out thousands of dollars to repair the damage.

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