TACOMA, Wash. — A suspect is in custody after a deadly overnight shooting at a South Sound bar that killed two people.
That shooting had five victims in total, including three victims hurt in addition to the two who died.
The shooting inside the Alleycat Patio and Lounge happened at about 1:30 a.m. Sunday.
Police say it started as a dispute between two people. But when the bullets stopped, five people had been shot, two of them fatally.
Even officers were surprised by just how many victims there were.
When they arrived, they thought four people had been shot. They soon found a fifth victim.
One person was already dead. Another would later die at a local hospital.
The shooting is a result of what police say was a “negative interaction” between two people inside the Alleycat.
Its impact is felt even by those who weren’t there.
“I’ve lived in Tacoma all my life,” said Norman Anthony, “and it’s just not the place I grew up in. It’s like a different place.”
For this man and his girlfriend, the shooting is personal. He said his 34-year-old daughter, Monic Swan, was sitting on a stool near the pool table when a bullet found its way to her. His girlfriend described Swan as a “free spirit” who worked in the medical field.
“At this particular point in time, we don’t know all of the information with regards to all the information with regards to how it came about,” said Tacoma police Detective William Muse.
Muse says what they do know is there was a dispute between two people inside the bar. One of them pulled out a weapon and opened fire. He says most of those who were shot were innocent bystanders.
“We believe that one of the people that was shot was the intended victim,” Det. Muse said.
He was asked if that person survived.
“I do not have that information at this particular point in time.”
The deadly shooting brings to 27 the number of homicides in Tacoma so far this year, a grim statistic that Muse blames on the use of violence to settle differences.
“You’re seeing it all over,” Det. Muse said. “It’s the road rage incidents. It’s the fights that happen in local establishments or even on streets, city streets. We want people to make better choices and not resort to violence as a way of resolving their issues.”
According to Tacoma Police, the public helped nab this murder suspect.
He turned himself into the Tacoma Police Headquarters at 4:30 Sunday afternoon. He was arrested for investigation of two counts of first-degree murder and three counts of first-degree assault.
Police also say the first who was shot and died at the scene was a 35-year-old man.
More information will likely be forthcoming when the suspect makes his first court appearance Monday afternoon.