Fatal shooting at Lakewood tattoo parlor stemmed from fight over threesome, records say
A double shooting at a Lakewood tattoo parlor stemmed from a fight over a threesome involving the dead man, his sister and the other victim’s girlfriend, according to court documents.
It started just after 6 p.m. when Gloria Gonzalez, 24, and her brother Brandon Toj, 19, went to a tattoo parlor in the 10200 block of Bridgeport Way to confront an employee there “about a past issue,” prosecutors wrote in charging papers.
They parked out front and left Gonzalez’s two children in the car, ages 2 and 7.
Once inside, Toj allegedly punched the employee, possibly breaking his nose, and started a fight. He fired several rounds at the employee but did not strike him.
The employee then pulled out a licensed gun and returned fire at Toj, hitting him at least four times in the chest.
Gonzalez and Toj left the tattoo parlor, and he collapsed on the sidewalk out front.
That’s when another employee was shot by Gonzalez, records say.
“He stated that after the shooting stopped and Toj and the defendant ran out of the shop, he attempted to close the front door, but was confronted by the defendant who was standing in the parking lot holding a handgun,” prosecutors wrote in charging papers. The second employee “stated that the defendant accused him of shooting her brother, and then fired at least one round, striking him in the left buttocks.”
Police were called to the area and found a “chaotic scene,” records say.
Gonzalez was standing outside the shop “screaming and waving around a pistol,” covered in blood and yelling about who shot her brother, according to court documents. Officers took her into custody after watching her charge a man and shove him.
A bloody expended shell casing was found in her leggings, which police believe she purposely picked up and tried to hide.
Toj was taken to Madigan Army Medical Center, where he died of multiple gunshot wounds.
The employee who was shot was taken to St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma and was listed in stable condition.
Gonzalez was charged Friday with first-degree assault for allegedly shooting the employee. She pleaded not guilty and was ordered held on $150,000 bail.
Police said she was intoxicated when arrested and told detectives the employee at the tattoo parlor was mad about a threesome she and her brother had with the employee’s girlfriend.
The employee has not been arrested and detectives say he might not face charges because it appears to be a case of self-defense.
“The investigation is still ongoing but the initial indication is that the person who shot the decedent did so in self-defense,” Lakewood Police Chief Mike Zaro said.
This story was originally published September 3, 2021 at 4:07 PM.
