FIFE, Wash. — A homicide investigation is underway after a man was fatally shot while driving in Fife, causing him to lose control of his car and crash into several light poles and trees.
According to the Fife Police Department, officers responded to a single-vehicle collision around 9:31 p.m. on Sept. 12. Early reports stated a car was speeding on 20th Street East near 70th Avenue East. The car struck multiple light poles, trees and a fire hydrant before coming to a stop.
Tacoma Fire crews responded and found the driver dead at the scene. The driver was killed by gunfire prior to the collision.
The driver was identified as Rudolph King III, a 23-year-old man from Milton. King was also an active-duty officer with the Army National Guard and a graduate of Pacific Lutheran University (PLU), according to a Fife Police news release.
A GoFundMe fundraiser was created, titled Rudolph (Lil' Rudy) King III, to help support King's fiancée. The couple met at PLU and King proposed in 2020, according to the fundraiser page. King's fiancée is also an officer in the Army National Guard.
Police said the shooting was “a random and violent attack on the victim.” The incident is being investigated as a homicide.
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to contact Fife Police Detective Sergeant Travis Kenyon at 253-896-8291.
