Investigators arrested a suspect in the slaying Thursday night in Federal Way after investigators followed up on leads.

In announcing the arrest, police spokesman Jeff Kappel said detectives are confident Zane Dittman, who was killed Monday in the house explosion, “is not connected to this case.”

A 22-year-old Seattle man was booked into the King County Jail late Thursday on investigation of homicide in the death of Noel Lopez.

Lopez’s body was found Monday at a construction site in the 900 block of Seventh Avenue in downtown Seattle. Lopez, 25, died of injuries to his head and torso.

Seattle police and Pierce County sheriff’s investigators shared information about Dittman, 25. There were reports he worked at the construction site where the homicide occurred.

Dittman was killed after taking a duffel bag full of explosives to the upstairs of a house in the 7000 block of 162nd Street Court East after a brief confrontation with Pierce County sheriff’s deputies.

About 10 minutes later, after deputies cleared the home, a large explosion rocked the neighborhood and blew off the second story of the house. Dittman died instantly.

In the days since, sheriff’s detectives have been looking into his background. They’ve also been trying to figure out why he had an arsenal of explosives and what he planned to do with them.

Investigators found knives, clubs and parts of semiautomatic handguns in the rubble of the home Thursday.

They were also tracking down a report that Dittman bought a bulletproof vest in the days before the explosion. Sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer said Friday that detectives had not found the vest and that it could have been destroyed in the explosion.

Stacey Mulick: 253-597-8268

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