Police arrest ex-boyfriend accused of shooting in Tumwater parking lot
A phony hedgehog exchange reportedly led to a shooting in a Tumwater parking lot on Sunday. Three days later, police have arrested the suspected shooter.
Police booked the 34-year-old man into Thurston County jail on Wednesday after arresting him on a warrant near the intersection of Sleater Kinney Road Northeast and Balsam Avenue in Lacey, according to jail records.
Thurston County prosecutors charged him with five counts on Monday: two counts of first-degree assault while armed with a firearm, first-degree attempted kidnapping, drive-by shooting and unlawful possession of a firearm.
The alleged shooting reportedly took place about 10:25 a.m. Sunday at the parking lot of the Lincoln Creek Lumber store on 93rd Avenue Southwest.
A woman at the scene told police her ex-boyfriend shot at her and another man in their vehicle during a meet up to exchange personal property, The Olympian previously reported.
No one was hurt in the incident, but the man who fired his gun drove away from the scene before police arrived.
A 27-year-old man accompanied the ex-boyfriend on Sunday. He is being held in Thurston County jail on suspicion of first-degree rendering criminal assistance.
A SWAT team and hostage negotiators persuaded both individuals to exit a residence on the 3900 block of Balsam Ave. and surrender to police without incident on Wednesday, said Lt. Jen Kolb with the Tumwater Police Department.
A probable cause statement for the 34-year-old man sheds light on what police believe happened on Sunday.
Police interviewed the 34-year-old woman at the scene. She told them she agreed to meet her ex-boyfriend to retrieve a pet hedgehog that belonged to her, according to the statement.
The woman told police her ex-boyfriend indicated the hedgehog was under a tarp in the back seat, but when she lifted the tarp, she found the 27-year-old accomplice in a crouched position.
The ex-boyfriend then allegedly pointed a black handgun at her and demanded she enter his vehicle, according to the court records. Instead, she jumped into the vehicle she arrived in, and the driver of that vehicle tried to drive away in reverse.
While this was occurring, the statement alleges the ex-boyfriend fired his weapon. The driver of the vehicle told police he remembers three shots being fired, but police found just two possible bullet defects on the passenger front door of the car.
Police found the passenger and driver’s windows shattered, per the statement, and they recovered one bullet from the front passenger door.
The statement says the parking lot of the hardware store was “full of innocent community members.”
Police learned the names of the ex-boyfriend and the 27-year-old man in his car. A criminal history check revealed the ex-boyfriend was previously convicted of residential burglary and a felony no-contact-order violation, per the statement.
This story was originally published January 27, 2022 at 11:09 AM.
