Gang retaliation might have been motive for shooting that injured 4 teens, charges say
The 19-year-old man charged in connection with a drive-by shooting that injured four teenagers last month might have been retaliating for the arrest of an apparent gang affiliate accused of killing a family member of some of the victims, court documents show.
Police say Ajay Q. Allen fired upon the four teenagers and an uninjured fifth passenger when his vehicle pulled alongside the victims’ car at a traffic light in the early evening of May 21.
Allen fled from the shooting near South 56th Street and South Yakima Avenue, court documents say. Tacoma police arrested Allen Thursday evening.
On Friday, he was charged with five counts of first-degree assault in Pierce County Superior Court. Not guilty pleas were entered on his behalf, and Court Commissioner Craig Adams ordered him jailed in lieu of $750,000 bail.
The teenagers drove to the hospital immediately following the shooting, court documents show. One victim suffered a non-life-threatening gunshot to the forehead, another was shot in the back and a third was hit in the neck. The extent of the fourth victim’s injuries was not listed in charging papers.
The victims told police at the hospital the person who shot them was wearing a ski mask and they did not know why they would be targeted, court documents say. The victims reported hearing about 10 shots.
Video footage appeared to show only one person in the suspect vehicle, according to court documents. A victim and one of their relatives later told detectives that Allen may have been the shooter and was associated with a gang.
The mother of one of the victims told investigators she thought one of them had received threats on social media, according to court documents. She said they also gave inconsistent stories about whether or not they knew the identity of the shooter.
Detectives then learned that a family member of some of the victims was killed in a recent shooting, and that the person arrested in that case was believed to be a member of the same gang as Allen, court documents say.
One of the victims confirmed Allen shot them after looking at photos from investigators, according to court documents. A car parked in the driveway of Allen’s home matched the suspect vehicle, and security video from a home near Allen’s showed someone driving the car while wearing the same colored jacket as the shooting suspect.
Police located a loaded pistol in the car while arresting Allen, and he was wearing a bag with three loaded handgun magazines, court documents say. Allen also had a balaclava that matched the description of the mask worn by the shooting suspect in his sweatshirt.
Detectives noted Allen’s vehicle had a bullet hole in the side mirror on the passenger side, which was consistent with a driver shooting through the passenger window, court documents say.
Allen declined to speak with police, according to court documents.
