Warrant issued for gang member wanted in Lakewood shooting
Police used social media to solve a shooting in Lakewood where a gang member fired at a man after a race-fueled argument.
The shooting took place about midnight Sept. 13 after the victim picked up a woman he’d met on a dating app.
The woman brought along her half-sister and asked the victim to give a ride to her half-sister’s drunken underage brother.
Agreeing, the victim said he could drop the other two at a nearby apartment complex before the date.
“While driving, the defendant began arguing with the victim over the defendant’s disdain for white people,” according to court documents.
The victim, who is white, pulled over on the side of the road and ordered all three to get out of his vehicle.
The women immediately obliged, but the 20-year-old in the backseat allegedly punched the victim in the face before getting out himself.
As the victim started to drive away, the 20-year-old, who is black, allegedly fired several shots.
“The victim stated the gunshots narrowly missed him,” records say.
The victim drove to a nearby fire station to wait for police and directed officers to the shooting scene in the 9300 block of 57th Avenue SW.
Officers found 12 shell casings at the scene.
When they spoke with the victim, they noticed he had several broken teeth and fragments of bullets in his vehicle.
The victim continued to text with his date after the incident, but she refused to name the gunman and eventually stopped responding. She also deleted her profile on the dating app.
Detectives were able to identify the woman and her half-sister and got warrants to search their social media accounts.
They determined both women had been communicating with the 20-year-old suspected shooter, who is a known gang member.
The suspect was believed to be involved in multiple shootings around that time and was arrested less than two weeks after the shooting for having a stolen gun and crack cocaine in his pocket.
Lakewood police were able to match the stolen gun to the shell casings found at the scene.
His phone records put him at the scene of the shooting and connected him to the woman who arranged the date, records say.
In a phone call from jail, the suspected gang member allegedly told the woman “he hopes her little friend isn’t talking and she better not talk to police,” according to charging papers.
The defendant is a convicted felon, most recently sentenced to 26 months in prison for a drive-by shooting.
He was on community custody at the time of the Lakewood shooting.
Pierce County prosecutors on Monday charged the suspect with first-degree assault and first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.
A warrant was issued for his arrest.
This story was originally published March 17, 2020 at 10:57 AM.
