Pierce County sheriff’s deputies shot and killed a 50-year-old man Monday night after he allegedly opened fire while a SWAT team served a search warrant at his home near Roy.
The man used a Russian-style high-powered assault rifle to shoot at deputies and a sheriff’s airplane that was helping to serve a high-risk search warrant at the man’s 20-acre rural property in the 2500 block of state Route 702, sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer said.
SWAT brought armored vehicles to serve the warrant because the man allegedly shot at his neighbors earlier in the day. Troyer said the man has a history of mental illness and weapons possession and had made specific threats recently to kill deputies and neighbors.
The man, who reportedly moved from Thurston County in April, was involuntarily committed two to three months ago and has had weapons taken away in the past.
“This is going to be a case where mental health and guns don’t mix,” Troyer said.
No deputies were wounded. Multiple shell casings were reportedly found near the man’s body. Troyer said the man was killed by a single shot from a SWAT sharp shooter. The deputy who shot the man was placed on administrative leave, standard procedure in a police shooting.
It’s unclear how much damage, if any, the plane sustained.
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