Suspect in Tacoma elevator murder arrested after group shot at Seattle officer

The 16-year-old boy accused of shooting a Tacoma man multiple times in an apartment elevator while he was surrounded by three other teenagers was arrested last week with a group suspected of firing at a Seattle police officer and fleeing south on Interstate 5.

He is one of two teenagers alleged to have shot 18-year-old Messiah Washington on Feb. 22 and was the only suspect who had not yet been apprehended.

Washington lived with his father on the third floor of an apartment building in the Hilltop neighborhood. The shooting occurred minutes after the group of four knocked on their door. Pierce County prosecutors have said in court documents it is reasonable to infer they were trying to rob Washington’s father or a friend of his who was known to traffic stolen guns and other property on social media.

The News Tribune is not naming the 16-year-old boy because he was 15 at the time of the homicide and is being prosecuted in Pierce County Juvenile Court, where he is charged with first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm. Prosecutors might seek to move his case to adult court at a later date.

The boy was arrested Nov. 29 with three girls ages 15-17. According to the Seattle Police Department, the group was driving erratically and at high speed at about 9 p.m. on Aurora Avenue North when Community Response Group (CRG) officers tried to stop the vehicle.

Police said the Durango fled, and officers didn’t pursue it. A short time later police found the vehicle parked in South Seattle, according to the Police Department. When it began moving again, police said an occupant fired several rounds at a CRG officer in a plain vehicle.

The officer wasn’t hurt, police said, but a “witness vehicle” was struck, and bullet fragments were left in a person’s lap. Police chased the Durango south on Interstate 5 into Tukwila, and the pursuit ended at South 188th Street and Military Road South after officers used a Precision Immobilization Technique.

The three girls and the boy, who police said ran from the vehicle, were taken into custody. A handgun was found nearby, and police said a second gun was recovered from the boy.

Two more male suspects ran from the Durango, police said. Multiple police agencies responded to search for them, but they were not found. Police noted that a short time later a man who had been shot in the leg arrived at Valley Medical Center in Renton.

Police said the four arrested were booked into detention at the Judge Patricia H. Clark Children & Family Justice Center on suspicion of two counts of first-degree assault, possession of a stolen vehicle, unlawful possession of a firearm and eluding a police vehicle.

The 16-year-old boy is expected to be transported to Pierce County after a warrant for his arrest in a custodial assault case out of King County is resolved, according to Casey McNerthney, a spokesperson for the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. McNerthney told The News Tribune the boy had a hearing in that case Thursday.

McNerthney said a charging decision in the Interstate 5 incident won’t be made until after police complete their investigation, which he said is ongoing.

Of the four teenagers charged in connection to Washington’s death in Tacoma, one boy who was 16 at the time of the homicide pleaded guilty in September in Juvenile Court to first-degree attempted robbery.

The other defendants’ cases are ongoing in Juvenile Court. Prosecutors are seeking to move them to adult court at hearings set for January and February.