Lakewood woman shoots brother after he slashes her, her boyfriend. The brother’s in jail
A man accused of knifing his sister and her boyfriend last month at their home in Lakewood was charged Wednesday in Pierce County Superior Court. Prosecutors say the man was shot by his sister during the incident.
Michael Emler, 34, was charged with first-degree assault and two counts of second-degree assault, according to court records. He was booked into jail Thursday after recovering from his injuries at Madigan Army Medical Center.
Emler pleaded not guilty at arraignment Friday. Superior Court Commissioner Craig Adams set bail at $250,000. The defendant does not have a criminal history in Pierce County.
The defendant was living with his sister and at least two other people at a triplex in the 6700 block of Steilacoom Boulevard Southwest, according to the documents. His sister’s boyfriend lived one house down at another triplex.
According to charging documents, Emler stabbed the two people during an altercation that unfolded the evening of May 22 after he learned everyone in the home would likely be evicted by the landlord soon, and that his sister wouldn’t let him stay with family when they moved.
The injuries Emler allegedly inflicted upon his sister required two surgeries to repair damage to her arm. According to the probable cause document, detectives said the wounds appeared to cut to the bone. The victim also had a cut on the back of her neck that required stitches.
The woman was not investigated for shooting her brother, according to Lakewood Police Department. Spokesperson Lt. Chris Westby said the woman shot her brother out of self-defense and that she was lucky to be alive.
The incident began when Emler’s nephew approached him to ask where he planned to live after the eviction, according to the declaration for determination of probable cause. Soon after, the document alleges, Emler armed himself with a steak knife and chased him out of the house. The nephew ended up unscathed, but his mother was severely injured when she and her boyfriend intervened.
While the sister was recovering in the hospital, police asked her why she thought her brother went after her son. She said she felt it was because he was telling Emler to “man up.”
Charging documents gave this account:
Lakewood Police Department officers were dispatched about 9:33 p.m. for a report of a shooting.
At the triplex, officers found a man and a woman with cuts from a knife and another man with a gunshot wound to the torso. The woman with the knife wound was later identified as Emler’s sister. The man who was knifed was the woman’s boyfriend. According to the declaration for determination of probable cause, the woman was sitting on the front lawn, where her son and her boyfriend were providing pressure to several severe lacerations on her left arm and neck.
The woman’s boyfriend had cuts to his left arm and armpit, the probable cause document states.
Officers asked the woman who had injured her, and she told them it was Emler. Police found him one house down to the west. Emler was taken to Madigan and his sister and her boyfriend were transported to Tacoma General Hospital.
On the scene, police found a 9 mm Ruger handgun, several 9 mm casings and a serrated steak knife that was about 6 inches long and covered in blood.
The injured woman’s son told police that when he came to the residence that day, his mother told him they were likely going to be evicted due to an issue between Emler and the landlord. According to the probable cause document, she also told him she wouldn’t let Emler stay with the family after the eviction.
The son went to Emler and asked where he planned to live after the eviction. Emler allegedly said something to the effect of “everything is fake,” then left the room and chugged two beers, charging documents state. The man’s nephew approached him again and tried to block him from leaving a room to talk with him further, but Emler pushed past him and went to the kitchen, where he grabbed the steak knife, according to the documents.
Armed with a knife, Emler allegedly chased his nephew out of the residence. The younger man made it back inside and locked Emler outside, where he began stabbing his nephew’s car, according to the probable cause document. The man’s nephew told police that was when his mother’s boyfriend arrived and confronted Emler.
In his interview with police, the mother’s boyfriend said when he arrived, he saw his girlfriend holding a gun while Emler beat on a vehicle in the driveway. According to the probable cause document, he told her to put the gun down, which she did. Then he felt someone hit him in the back, and he turned to see Emler swinging a knife at him. At some point, his girlfriend’s son told police, the boyfriend punched Emler.
The boyfriend told police he yelled for his girlfrient to pick up the gun and shoot him. According to the probable cause document, she fired two shots at Emler, striking him once. At some point during the altercation, Emler reached his sister and cut her multiple times. Another resident reported seeing the man’s sister injured and crying as she shot her brother.
