A state correctional officer was arrested Monday after a domestic dispute that led to the lockdowns of two schools and a prison, as well as prompting a chase and a police standoff in a West End neighborhood in Tacoma.
No one was hurt after the initial domestic dispute.
As a precaution, officials locked down Skyline Elementary School, 2301 N. Mildred St. in Tacoma; Whittier Elementary School, 777 Elm Tree Lane in Fircrest; and the Washington Corrections Center in Shelton, where the man worked.
After a 45-minute standoff, the man surrendered just before 1:10 p.m. and was booked on suspicion of first-degree assault-domestic violence and eluding a police officer, which is a felony. The News Tribune is not naming him because he has yet to be charged.
The man worked the graveyard shift at the prison in Shelton and left about 6 a.m. Monday, said Chad Lewis, Department of Corrections spokesman. Sometime later in the morning, the officer was involved in a domestic violence incident, Lewis said.
When the man and a woman drove to Skyline Elementary to drop off a child, the woman went inside for help. Police came to the school about 9:15 a.m., but the man was gone.
As a precautionary measure, the school was placed on lockdown, Tacoma Public Schools spokesman Dan Voelpel said.
Meanwhile, the officer’s brother called the prison to notify officials of the earlier domestic incident, Lewis said. The brother said the officer either had a gun or had access to one. The brother was concerned the officer might be headed to the prison in Shelton, Lewis said.
Staff members put the prison on lockdown and stationed armed officers at the entrance, Lewis said.
In Tacoma, police interviewed the woman, who later was taken to a local hospital for treatment of her injuries.
Police initially were concerned the man had another child in the car and was headed to Whittier Elementary to drop the child off for school, police spokesman Mark Fulghum said. The school was briefly locked down, but the man didn’t go there. Instead, he went to Gig Harbor and dropped the child off with relatives, Fulghum and Voelpel said.
Officers spotted the man’s car near North 10 Street and Skyline Drive and after a chase surrounded him about 12:25 p.m. After talking with a negotiator, the man surrendered just before 1:10 p.m., Fulghum said. A gun was found in the man’s vehicle, Fulghum said.
The officer will not be allowed back at the prison until his case is resolved, Lewis said. He has worked for the Corrections Department since August 2005, starting at McNeil Island and transferring to the prison in Shelton in 2010.
Stacey Mulick: 253-597-8268 stacey.mulick@thenewstribune.com blog.thenewstribune.com/crime
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