Washington state stabbing attack leaves 4 dead; suspect fatally shot
A 32-year-old man fatally stabbed four people outside a home in Washington state before he was shot and killed by a sheriff’s deputy, authorities said Tuesday, Feb. 24.
The Pierce County Sheriff’s Office said deputies responded to a call at about 8:41 a.m. local time that a man was violating a no-contact order at a home northwest of Tacoma, Washington. Witnesses soon reported seeing a man stabbing people outside the house, according to the sheriff’s office.
A sheriff’s deputy arrived at the scene at around 9:30 a.m. and fatally shot the suspect, authorities said. Three people died at the scene, and another person was taken away by emergency responders and died from their injuries.
Pierce County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Carly Cappetto confirmed that there is no ongoing threat to the public.
Tacoma Police Department Officer Shelbie Boyd confirmed in a statement that a sheriff’s deputy responding to the scene fatally shot the suspect. The News Tribune, a media outlet based in Tacoma, first reported that a deputy fatally shot the suspect.
Boyd said police were working to identify the victims, but said they were believed to all be adults. The identity of the suspect was not disclosed.
The relationship between the people involved in the attack was not immediately known.
No-contact order
Deputies received a copy of the no-contact order to serve the suspect, and were en route to the scene when multiple witnesses reported at 9:30 a.m. that a man was stabbing people outside the home, according to the sheriff’s office.
One deputy then arrived at the scene, and shots were reported at around 9:33 a.m., the sheriff’s office said. About 52 minutes had passed from when the initial call came into 911 to when shots were fired.
Boyd attributed the length of time in part to law enforcement needing to determine whether the court order barring the man from visiting the site was still valid and had been served to the suspect. The deputy, according to Boyd, confirmed the order was valid but had not been served.
After obtaining it, the deputy headed to the scene to serve the man with a copy of the order. Boyd said she did not know when the order was originally issued.
Where did the attack happen?
According to local authorities, the attack happened at a home in the Key Peninsula area. The address is located off of Henderson Bay, part of the Puget Sound estuary.
First responders from Gig Harbor, Washington, responded to the scene. Gig Harbor is a small city on the shore of Puget Sound.
‘You could really hear it echoing through the trees’
Chris Cardenas, a nearby resident from where the stabbings took place, told The Associated Press that he was in his driveway washing his truck when he heard the gunfire.
“All of a sudden, I just heard like a series of gunshots,” Cardenas said, the news organization reported. “You could really hear it echoing through the trees. I immediately knew something was up because I’ve never heard gunshots out here.”
Contributing: Charles Ventura, USA TODAY
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