TACOMA, Wash. — A man was charged Thursday in connection to the shooting death of 39-year-old Joe Briggs in Tacoma last month.
Keenan Blakely, 33, was arrested Wednesday.
At around 2 a.m. on Sept. 10, Briggs was shot and killed while trying to save a woman who was being attacked by multiple men.
Tacoma Police Department officers located the Blakely just before noon on Wednesday at 900 85th Street East. He was booked into the Pierce County Jail and has been charged with second-degree murder, assault in the second degree, and unlawful possession of a firearm in the first degree. He pleaded not guilty Thursday.
Blakely has previous felony convictions for assault in the first degree.
According to charging documents, Tacoma police officers found Briggs shot multiple times in the chest near South Tacoma Way in the parking lot north of the Night Owl Lounge. He died on the scene.
Investigators soon learned that Briggs was trying to help a woman who was being assaulted by three other men. She was trying to save another woman from those same three men. The women did not know each other.
According to the charging documents, Blakely was arrested after an anonymous tip was submitted and a witness at the lounge identified him as the suspect. The witness told detectives she saw Blakely holding a gun in his band and fired because Briggs had Blakely in a headlock.
Briggs was an active member of the martial arts community.
Paul Boudreaux runs Certified Martial Arts in University Place and said he met Briggs through martial arts and would see him at different fighting tournaments. The two eventually become close friends.
At a vigil held for Briggs in September, Boudreaux said he was devastated to hear the news, but not surprised that the 39-year-old jumped in to help someone in need.
“There is no world in which Joe doesn’t come to the aid of someone else,” Boudreaux said. “That is the kind of person that he was. He would be the first person to stand up if something wrong was going on, and so as tragic as it is, the way the story happened, as him going out trying to be a hero and save someone has not been a surprise to anyone.”
Blakely is also being charged with another count of unlawful possession of a firearm in the first degree from a separate incident that happened in June 2022. His bail was set at $100,000 for this charge.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Download our free KING 5 app to stay up-to-date on news stories from across western Washington.