KING COUNTY, Wash. — The man accused of starting a shootout that left one dead and seven injured in Seattle on Jan. 22, 2020, is back in custody after being released earlier this year.
Editor's note: The above video originally aired March 1, 2023.
William Tolliver was released from jail on March 1 on electronic home detention until his trial. Tolliver was placed back in custody after he was charged Thursday with felony harassment, according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office. His first court appearance is scheduled for May 30.
Tolliver was charged with first-degree murder, six counts of first-degree assault, and unlawful gun possession back in 2020. Tolliver’s legal team filed a motion for him to be released in April.
The shooting along Third Avenue and Pine Street took place after a Facebook post was made in which a friend of Tolliver’s was named and insulted.
Three gunmen opened fire, shooting at least 24 rounds off in six seconds.
Bystanders on the busy street were hit, including a nine-year-old boy who was shot in the femur and 50-year-old Tanya Jackson, who was killed.
One of the other alleged gunmen, Marquise Tolbert, was found not guilty of murder and first-degree assault back in September.
The third suspected gunman, Jamel Linonell Jackson, was sentenced to 16 months on August 19, 2021.
All three men had criminal records. Tolliver and Tolbert had a combined 65 arrests.
Tolliver’s grandmother spoke out in February 2020 saying that her grandson has a “loving heart” and that he does not hurt people.
“That is not what he does. That's not how he was brought up,” said Lizzie Coleman, Tolliver’s grandmother. “I know he just got caught up with the wrong person at the wrong time.”