All 3 suspects in Tumwater shootout now in jail
A third suspect in a July 13 Tumwater shooting is being held in the Thurston County jail after being released from Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
Richard M. Connor, 38, was unable to appear in Thurston County Superior Court on Friday, and will instead appear Monday. Judge Gary Tabor found probable cause for three felony charges: first-degree assault while armed with a deadly weapon, first-degree burglary while armed with a deadly weapon and first-degree robbery while armed with a deadly weapon.
Both the assault and robbery charges count as strikes in Washington’s three-strikes law.
Two other suspects in the case, 29-year-old Larico D. Rodney and 42-year-old John L. Bailey, were previously booked into the jail and are facing the same charges. Bail was set at $2 million for Rodney and $3 million for Bailey.
All three men had been hospitalized after the shooting. Rodney and Connor were taken to Harborview, and Bailey was taken to Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia.
A male resident at 227 Gerth St. SW in Tumwater called 911 early July 13 and reported that three men had broken into the home. He said one of the suspects had taken his AR-15, and that he had been shot in the abdomen.
When police arrived at the home, seven people came out of the home — three of whom had been shot. One of the injured men identified himself as the 911 caller, and another identified himself as Rodney.
The four victims told police they awoke to the sounds of people inside the home, according to court documents. One of the residents said he awoke to three men binding his hands and covering his mouth with duct tape. He was then dragged to the bedroom of a second male victim.
That victim said a man had entered his room holding an AR-15, which he recognized as belonging to the first victim. The man with the AR-15 ordered him to lie on the ground, and asked for the combination to his safe. The man removed about $3,000, according to court documents.
The first victim was able to remove the duct tape and call 911. As he tried to run back to his bedroom, one of the suspects shot him in the abdomen.
When police interviewed Rodney, he said that he needed money to find a new place to live. Connor called him and said he knew a place in Tumwater with a lot of marijuana and money, according to court documents.
Bailey told police he previously knew Rodney after serving time with him in prison. Bailey said Rodney coordinated the robbery because he Googled the location of the home after retrieving it from an unknown person named “Hit” over the phone.
Bailey’s girlfriend drove them to Tumwater, and when they arrived, he had her knock on the front door. No one answered.
Then the three suspects went to the front door and knocked. No one answered.
That is when Bailey and Connor grabbed handguns and broke into the home, according to Bailey. Rodney said he brought duct tape into the house. The three men went to the downstairs bedrooms, attempted to tape up a man, and removed money from a safe.
Rodney said Bailey then went upstairs, and he heard gunshots. Rodney and the other suspect went upstairs, and the third suspect pointed his gun at a woman. Then he and Connor were both shot, according to court documents.
Rodney told police that he thought it was going to be a simple breaking and entering.
“I’m guilty so I told you the truth. I want to do the right thing,” he said, according to court documents.
Amelia Dickson: 360-754-5445, @Amelia_Oly
This story was originally published July 29, 2016 at 5:15 PM with the headline "All 3 suspects in Tumwater shootout now in jail."