They shot the manager of a Tacoma event center. 2nd suspect charged, but not in custody

A second man has been charged in the shooting of a manager at a Tacoma event center during an attempted robbery earlier this year.

The 41-year-old was charged Monday with first-degree assault, first-degree robbery, first-degree kidnapping and first-degree burglary.

He has not been arrested. Police believe he is in California.

Another suspect pleaded guilty Oct. 5 to the same charges, plus first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm. The 19-year-old is set to be sentenced Jan. 25.

The robbery took place Aug. 26 in the 5600 block of South Washington Street after the event center closed for the night.

Armed with information from an employee about the safe, two masked men forced a manager upstairs at gunpoint and ordered other employees to lie on the floor.

They stole money from the safe after the manager opened it, but one of the robbers, allegedly the the 41-year-old man, dropped the cash while running from the business.

The robbers returned to the event center to retrieve the money. They saw the manager on the stairs, “got scared” and the 19-year-old shot her. She was critically wounded but survived.

The teen eventually turned himself in and told police the shooting wasn’t planned.

“We went there for a straight-up robbery, but didn’t get anything,” the teen said, according to court records. “So we went back and when she was on the stairs I got scared.”

It took police some time to identify the second suspect.

This story was originally published October 23, 2018 at 1:45 PM.