Drive-by in Eastside Tacoma left 22-year-old shot in head; driver now arrested, charged
A 21-year-old man has been arrested and charged in connection to an apparently gang-related, drive-by shooting in Tacoma where a young man was shot in the head outside an Eastside home.
Jeremy James Orla Vanzant-Volpe was charged Thursday in Pierce County Superior Court with first-degree assault and drive-by shooting. According to charging documents, the defendant is accused of following the victim in his car Saturday from a Portland Avenue smoke shop to a home blocks from Pacific Avenue, where his passenger stuck his arm out the window and gunned down the person he was targeting.
Pleas of not guilty were entered on Vanzant-Volpe’s behalf at arraignment Thursday afternoon. Commissioner Craig Adams set bail at $250,000. According to court records, the defendant does not have any prior criminal convictions.
Tacoma Police Department executed a search warrant at the suspected gunman’s house, records state, but detectives are still looking for him. Police said he is a 22-year-old man.
Prosecutors wrote in charging papers that the victim, also 22, suffered a gunshot wound that entered his forehead and exited behind his right ear, leaving him hospitalized with life-threatening injuries. Records state doctors have been unable to determine how much brain activity he has due to brain swelling.
A specific motive in the shooting is not detailed in charging documents. The victim’s mother told police she thought it was related to a shooting that occurred the week before. She reportedly said there had been a fracture in gang relationships.
In interviews with detectives, Vanzant-Volpe allegedly said he isn’t involved in gangs, but he knew the gunman — identified in charging documents as A.C. — was associated with them. He said he didn’t know the victim, but he assumed he and A.C. were in different gangs.
Masked suspects allegedly followed victim
Vanzant-Volpe and A.C. were driving to a smoke shop in the 4400 block of Portland Avenue on March 24 when the victim was spotted in the business’s drive-thru, the defendant allegedly told police, according to the declaration for determination of probable cause. A.C. was allegedly wearing a balaclava that covered his face, and he handed another to Vanzant-Volpe, who said he put on the mask.
A.C. allegedly said something to the effect of, “There’s that sucka right there,” the defendant told detectives.
Vanzant-Volpe said he stopped short of pulling directly behind the victim’s car. He told detectives he was trying to get A.C. not to do anything, and he eventually left the parking lot and waited down the street for the victim to leave. When he did, the defendant said, they followed him a short distance, and he again told A.C. he “didn’t want to do this,” records state. He said he told his passenger he was going to drop him off, and A.C. gave him directions.
“As they got into the area of 43rd and Bell Street, still wearing the balaclavas, A.C. said ‘there he is right there’ and then leaned out of the front passenger side window and fired multiple rounds from the semi auto handgun,” Vanzant-Volpe allegedly told police.
Tacoma Police Department officers responded at about 4:55 p.m. when someone called 911 to report her brother had been shot in the head. Records state the victim was found unresponsive near the northeast corner of the home by a set of stairs. Fire department personnel arrived and provided aid to him.
Cameras capture shooting, fleeing car
Police zeroed in on Vanzant-Volpe as the driver using a video that allegedly captured the shooting and images from a surveillance camera that showed its license plate, according to the probable cause document.
The video shows the victim parking his car in the street at about 4:44 p.m. Records state he was walking toward the home when he looked over his shoulder at an approaching vehicle. The car was on South 45th Street when an arm appears to emerge, and the victim simultaneously fell to the ground.
Officers learned the suspect vehicle was last seen southbound in an alley. While canvassing that area they obtained images from a surveillance camera that showed the car was a black 2017 Kia Sportage. According to the probable cause document, a records check showed it was registered to Vanzant-Volpe. Detectives also learned the owner was recently the victim of a shooting in the 7300 block of East McKinley Avenue.
The suspect’s Kia was stopped by Des Moines Police Department on Tuesday, records state. The vehicle and Vanzant-Volpe, who was driving it, were brought back to Tacoma Police Department. He was booked into Pierce County Jail the next day.
