A double homicide suspect was transported to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries after an officer-involved shooting in Tumwater early Thursday morning.
According to the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department, the incident began around 7:05 Wednesday night when the department received a call for a welfare check on the 23000 block of 162nd Street East.
The caller told authorities he was worried for his parent’s safety after his father said he was going to talk with the caller’s 21-year-old brother, and that the brother might have a gun. The man told police that he had tried to call his father several times, but none of his phone calls were answered.
When deputies arrived on the scene, there was no movement or sounds coming from inside the house and a bullet hole was seen through a window on the front door. When authorities entered the house, they found two victims, believed to be the homeowners, dead inside.
Multiple agencies searched the home and surrounding areas but the suspect, the victim’s son, was not found. Detectives identified a car rented by the suspect and issued a statewide notice to law enforcement around 12:20 a.m.
Around 10 minutes later, Tumwater Police and the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office located the suspect inside the rental vehicle at a Comfort Inn in Tumwater.
The Thurston County Sheriff's Office says authorities attempted to make contact with the suspect and became involved in a shooting. A sheriff's office sergeant fired three shots at the vehicle as it started to drive towards him.
The suspect was struck once in the shoulder and transported to the hospital. No officers were injured.
The 21-year-old is under guard and will be booked on two counts of Murder in the first degree for the murder of his parents once released from the hospital, Pierce County Sheriff’s Department said.
