Mistaken identity might have led man to kill Federal Way boy in Lakewood, police say
A man might have mistaken a teenager for a member of a rival gang when he shot the boy Sept. 28 outside a Lakewood townhome, police said Thursday. The victim died Oct. 2.
Justin Coleman, 29, has been charged with second-degree murder and other crimes in the death of the 17-year-old victim, whose name has not been publicly released by the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office.
The incident began around 12:45 a.m. Sept. 28 when the victim was shot in the head in a parking lot of the Gravelly Lake Townhomes in the 13000 block of Pacific Highway SW.
The victim, a Federal Way High School student, was loaded into a private vehicle which was later stopped by the Washington State Patrol on Interstate 5 near South 38th Street in Tacoma. Medical aid was summoned.
The boy was taken to a local hospital where he died days later.
With the help of the state Department of Corrections, Lakewood Police detectives identified Coleman as a suspect and interviewed him Tuesday, said Lakewood police spokesman Lt. Chris Lawler.
Coleman was booked into jail on a DOC warrant and was charged Thursday with second degree murder, drive-by shooting and unlawful possession of a firearm. He has not yet been arraigned in the teenager’s death.
This story was originally published October 8, 2020 at 3:23 PM.
