Held in jail for nearly a year, man free after charges dropped in Tacoma fatal shooting
A man held in jail for nearly a year on murder and assault charges in a fatal shooting at an after-hours nightclub in Tacoma had his case dismissed last month after investigation found another person might be responsible for the crime.
Tacoma Police Department detectives have reopened the investigation into the Feb. 4, 2021 fatal shooting that left a 29-year-old Kent man dead and three other people shot at the Gatekeepers Club on East McKinley Avenue.
Nathaniel Walsky, 22, was charged last year in Pierce County Superior Court with the shooting. Now prosecutors say the sole witness who identified him can’t be located. The case was dismissed Feb. 25 without prejudice, meaning that if new information shows Walsky is to blame, charges could be refiled
“Walsky is relieved and happy to be reunited with his family,” said Brett Purtzer, the man’s defense attorney.
Court documents filed in the case don’t provide any indication of what information was uncovered that points to another person as the shooter. When detectives were first investigating the case, they used witness descriptions and social media to identify Walsky as the man responsible. At least one person identified him as the gunman in a photo lineup.
Walsky was arrested March 1, 2021, by the South Sound Gang Task Force.
Purtzer said he couldn’t comment on what information showed another person might be responsible. Asked whether he thought there was a breakdown in law enforcement or judicial proceedings that led to his client being wrongly accused, Purtzer said he couldn’t comment.
The prosecutor assigned to Walsky’s case, Sven Nelson, couldn’t be reached. A spokesperson with the Prosecutor’s Office referred to the dismissal filed in court and said he couldn’t get into the details of the new information, citing the ongoing investigation.
On the night of the shooting, about 50 people were inside the club on the second floor of a building at 3634 E. McKinley Ave. According to charging documents, Lawrence Paige — the man who would later be fatally shot — was there with his brother and two friends when his group got into an argument with another group that included Walsky.
It’s not clear what the argument was about.
A witness told detectives she saw the argument, and that three people in Walsky’s group stood out to her, according to the declaration for determination of probable cause document. One was a woman “who was being loud and appeared to be making the situation worse.” The two others were men.
One of the men was “light-skinned” and about 6 feet tall with brown curly hair and sideburns who appeared about 24 years old. The other was “dark-skinned” and shorter with a stocky build, who appeared to be in his 20s.
The witness said she began to usher Paige and the others in their group out of the club, but as they were leaving, Paige turned and insulted someone in the group, according to the probable cause document. Shortly after, shots were fired.
Paige was struck by gunfire multiple times and died at the scene. Three others were injured and taken to Tacoma General Hospital.
Detectives were later contacted by a witness who said the shooter was a light-skinned man with curly blonde hair and a tattoo on his hand and above his eyebrow. It’s unclear whether that is a separate witness than the woman who was with Paige’s group. She said she saw the curly-haired man she described holding a pistol and raising it before hearing shots ring out.
“No Sav don’t do it,” the witness said she heard someone say. During the investigation, detectives learned that Walsky went by the name “Sav or Savvy” and found his Facebook profile. Photos of Walsky showed his curly hair and the tattoos the witness described.
This story was originally published March 17, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
