TACOMA, Wash. — Details are emerging over what led to a deadly standoff between a Tacoma resident and police on Tuesday, Aug. 8.
Police were called to Tacoma’s Fern Hill neighborhood after receiving reports of shots being fired. When officers arrived, they found a man who allegedly fired numerous rounds, hitting nearby homes.
After assessing the situation, Tacoma police called in the SWAT team for backup. Lakewood Police Sgt. Charles Porche, who represents the Pierce County Force Investigation Team, said officers located the suspect and tried to negotiate his surrender.
Porche said the man fired more rounds. Officers returned fire, hitting and killing the man.
The Pierce County Force Investigation Team, the agency that’s called in whenever deadly force is used by law enforcement, has taken over the investigation.
It wasn't the first time this man posed a threat to the neighborhood, according to neighbors.
Neighbors recalled hearing gunshots from the shooter’s home on a regular basis.
Jack Wellingham rents out the property that sits next door to the shooter. He said that he had a few conversations with the shooter, and described the shooter as distrustful.
“He really was someone who didn’t trust the government at all and thought that things that had gone on in the state led him to believe that they were trying to get his stuff,” he said. “He was definitely pretty adamant about that.”
Willingham recalled seeing the shooter yelling, putting his trash can in the middle of the street, and surrounding his property with barbed wire.
When the police and city workers removed the wire, Wellingham said the shooter became even more agitated and started firing off more rounds.
“It seemed like a 9MM, so it wasn’t like a little .22, it was a serious gun,” Wellingham said. “You could see [the police] congregating down here and blocking off the road, so … I closed the house up and left.”
Willingham commended Tacoma police for doing everything they could to avoid Tuesday's deadly outcome. But he also said he’s planning on selling the property and leaving this neighborhood behind.
“It’ll be difficult because of the situation with the adult care facility and some of those issues, but that’s more manageable than a situation where people are shooting,” he said.