Well-armed suspect in Parkland shootout had lengthy record, was legally barred from possessing guns

The 32-year-old man arrested Thursday after a shootout and standoff in Parkland is a convicted sex offender with multiple prior criminal convictions for offenses involving weapons.

Legally, he wasn’t allowed to possess firearms. He got them anyway by unclear means, and allegedly tried to rob a tire store in the 13400 block of Pacific Avenue South on Thursday. During a three-hour standoff, the gunman, wearing body armor, shot at law enforcement after barricading himself inside a second business.

“We are concerned how a guy can get out of prison and acquire firepower and a vest so fast,” said Pierce County sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer.

The News Tribune is not naming the man because he hasn’t been formally charged in the Parkland incident, though he was arrested and booked into the Pierce County Jail on suspicion of assault, robbery and kidnapping. His arraignment is expected Monday.

The man was released from state prison in February after completing a 13-year sentence for first-degree robbery, according to public records. The charge dates to 2006. The man tried to rob several people at knifepoint. He was previously charged with robbery in 2004. Again, the crime involved a knife.

Though the man was released from the Stafford Creek Corrections Center in Aberdeen earlier this year, his sentence included continuing community supervision by the state Department of Corrections. Conditions of his supervision prohibited him from possessing weapons, according to Corrections Department spokesman Jeremy Barclay.

The man had checked in with a community corrections officer Aug. 2, and showed up for a required meeting with his CCO on Aug. 31, Barclay said. He missed the next appointment, which was set for Sept. 5.

On Thursday morning, the Corrections Department issued a warrant for his arrest. About 7:40 that evening, the man walked into the tire store carrying three rifles and a handgun, Troyer said. All the store employees ran.

The gunman stayed inside the store until sheriff’s deputies arrived, then ran next door to a used car dealership.

“That’s when he grabbed hostages and demanded a car,” Troyer said. “We believe this was random, none of the victims in either business knew him.”

Three employees at the car dealership escaped, but the gunman managed to hold a fourth hostage in a back room. During the standoff, the gunman shot at officers. None were hurt.

The standoff ended shortly after 10 p.m. when a SWAT officer shot the gunman in the chest. The body armor protected him from serious injury.

The man refused to speak with detectives. Investigators were still trying Friday to determine where he got the body armor and weapons.

“He has a long history and has been booked into jail a dozen times so he should not have been legal to have them,” Troyer said.

This story was originally published September 7, 2018 at 3:42 PM.