Tacoma police officer who shot homicide suspect is identified
A Tacoma police officer who shot and injured a homicide suspect after the man fired several shots toward officers has been identified.
Nathan Reetz, 34, has been with the department for two and a half years.
Investigators say he fired five rounds from his on-duty rifle, striking 27-year-old Dyrell Swinson.
He is on paid administrative duty, which is standard procedure after an officer-involved shooting.
Swinson remains hospitalized and was charged this week with second-degree murder, harming a police dog, three counts of first-degree assault and one count of first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.
While hiding beneath a vehicle Aug. 13, he allegedly fired a pistol five times toward several police officers and Ronja, the department’s newest K-9.
Ronja was hit three times and later died at a veterinarian hospital.
Her handler was struck by shrapnel.
The 9mm pistol Swinson allegedly used was found beneath the car after the shooting. It was stolen, according to Lakewood police and the Washington State Patrol, which are investigating the officer-involved shooting.
Police had been looking for Swinson since the previous night because they suspected he was involved in a fatal shooting.
They spotted his car about 1:15 a.m. and tried to pull him over, but he fled.
Officers found the car abandoned shortly afterward and began searching the neighborhood. He was found hiding beneath a vehicle in front of triplex in the 3600 block of South M Street, which is where he shot Ronja and Reetz shot him.
Swinson was wanted for the Aug. 12 fatal shooting of Jake Red, 28, in a parking lot near South 64th Street and South Yakima Avenue.
The men belonged to the same gang and Swinson accused Red of being romantically involved with the mother of his children, according to court documents.
When Red denied it, Swinson grabbed a handgun from his car and approached the vehicle Red was sitting in.
“He said words to the effect of, ‘I think you’re playing me,’ and then, without provocation, shot Red in the neck,” prosecutors wrote in charging papers.
A third man present fired multiple times at Swinson as he fled, then drove Red in search of medical help.
Police found them near the scene in an SUV.
Red had been shot several times in the neck, back and stomach, records say.
Anyone witnessed the officer-involved shooting is asked to call Lakewood police Sgt. Rich Hall at 253-830-5044 or Lakewood police Det. Jeff Martin at 253-830-5042.
This story was originally published August 20, 2020 at 2:35 PM.
