AUBURN, Wash. — Auburn Police Department detectives arrested a suspect in an attempted break-in where the homeowner shot at three intruders.
Surveillance footage shows three masked suspects trying to break down the door of an Auburn home on Oct. 19 before the homeowner fired shots at them.
The suspect, a 31-year-old Tacoma man, was arrested Wednesday around 8 p.m. During a court hearing Thursday, a judge found probable cause for first-degree attempted robbery, first-degree assault, and first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.
Bail was set at $1 million.
In probable cause documents, police said there has been a "significant increase" over the last few months in home invasion-style robberies targeting people of Asian descent. Police believe the Auburn incident follows that pattern.
Police also said the suspect is believed to be a member of a group that targets Asian families during home invasion robberies.
Auburn police were dispatched to an address on 117th Place SE for reports of a shooting on Oct. 19.
Security footage from the home included in the department's Facebook post shows three men approach the front door of the home and begin to kick it in. The men appeared to announce themselves as "Seattle police" before they tried to kick in and knock down the front door with a shoulder.
"Luckily enough, they had a dead-bolted door that was hard for them to get into, so them kicking and not getting in right away really allowed the homeowners time to react," said Auburn Police spokesperson Kolby Crossley.
The homeowner was armed and estimated he shot back at the suspects about six times through the front door, which was captured in the final seconds of the video.
After multiple shots were fired at the suspects, they fled the area. Police said it appeared at least one of the suspects returned fire while fleeing, according to probable cause documents. Police found numerous shell casings in the bushes outside the home.
The shootout sent bullets flying in the area. No one was hurt in the shooting, but houses were hit.
Police found a black cellphone outside the victim's home and used it to track down the suspect, whose phone number repeatedly called the recovered cellphone.
Phone records show the suspect's phone was either at or near the victim's address around the time of the attempted robbery, according to probable cause documents.
Officers are still looking for two other suspects seen on surveillance footage of the incident.