The man, Shaun Allen Peterson, died of gunshot wounds to the neck and torso, according to the Thurston County coroner.
Officers have asked for the public’s help in finding a gray/silver, 1993 Jeep Cherokee, with license plate number 747-WWO. Olympia Police Cmdr. Tor Bjornstad said Peterson left his residence last night in the vehicle, which belongs to his girlfriend.
Anyone who sees the vehicle should call 911 but not approach it, police said. Persons in or near the car could be armed and dangerous.
The investigation began at 2:43 a.m. when officers responded to the 1700 block of Capitol Way after receiving several calls from residents who said they thought they had heard gunshots, police said. Police found the dead man lying in the outside southbound lane of Capitol Way, Bjornstad said.
Medics pronounced him dead at the scene. Multiple shell casings were scattered across the roadway.
Police said they know of no motive for the homicide.
Residents in the South Capitol neighborhood were rattled by the scene. Yellow crime tape sealed off a perimeter around Capitol Way between 19th Avenue and Maple Park Drive, preventing morning walks and jogs.
Capitol Way was closed from 19th Avenue to Maple Park Drive most of the morning while police investigated.
Rohan Theiss, a contractor who lives in the neighborhood and is installing siding on a nearby house, was alarmed. “I’m fairly shocked … to see a homicide in this neighborhood and this type,” he said. “I don’t quite know what to make of it.”
City Manager Steve Hall, after talking with Police Chief Gary Michel, concluded that the victim was known to police for “bad behaviors” and that the homicide was not random.
“The general public need not worry based on what we know so far,” Hall said.
Greg Klein, president of the South Capitol Neighborhood Association, said he spoke with Hall and learned that the shooting wasn’t random.
“All I know is that he (the victim) was known to the police department … that he had suspicious activity and (was) drug-related.”
Klein said that there have been drug-related problems in the neighborhood before. “I hope this is just kind of an isolated incident,” he said.
