Man fatally shot outside Fife motel kicked in doors looking for woman, records say
A 29-year-old suspected of fatally shooting a man outside a Fife motel opened fire because the man had earlier kicked in his door and appeared to be trying to run him down as he smoked a cigarette, court records say.
On Friday, Pierce County prosecutors charged Tamau Tauala with second-degree murder for the Aug. 2 death of 32-year-old Tupo Fuaau.
A not guilty plea was entered on Tauala’s behalf at arraignment, and Superior Court Judge Clarence Henderson, Jr. set bail at $1 million.
Charging papers give this account:
Police were called about 9 a.m. to a motel in the 3100 block of Pacific Highway East and found a Chrysler that had crashed into one of the building’s rooms.
In the driver’s seat was Fuaau, who was taken to an area hospital, where he died.
Two bulletholes were found in the windshield and driver’s door, records say.
Witnesses told police a passenger had fled the scene before they arrived and said they spotted the possible gunman running toward a different motel.
Ammunition casings were found outside that motel.
When detectives began knocking on motel room doors, they discovered Fuaau had kicked in at least two motel room doors looking for a woman who allegedly robbed him the week before.
Tauala was in one of the rooms.
A woman who was in the room with him said Fuaau had a gun when he kicked in the door to their room looking for an unknown woman.
“She said (Tauala) and the male started to physically fight over the gun and (Tauala) was able to take the gun away from the male,” prosecutors wrote in charging papers.
Shortly afterward, Fuaau returned in a Chrysler and appeared to be trying to run them down, she said.
The woman denied seeing Tauala shoot anyone.
As detectives were processing the scene, Fuaau’s passenger returned and claimed he didn’t know Fuaau but had accepted a ride to buy alcohol.
He “told officers that he fled the scene because he feared getting shot,” records say.
Surveillance video shows Tauala standing outside his room shooting at Fuaau’s car.
“The Chrysler quickly reversed in a half circle movement, and then crashed into the wall of room,” records say.
Surveillance footage also shows Tauala quickly walk away from the motel, followed by two women.
It captures him dropping a jacket just as a police car passes, then catching a ride from someone pumping gas at a convenience store.
When he was arrested Thursday, Tauala allegedly told officers he gave the gun used in the homicide to the people who drove him away from the scene.
This story was originally published August 14, 2020 at 8:58 AM.
