Bail bondsman fatally shoots armed woman

TACOMA — Police say a woman was shot and killed by a bail bondsman after she brandished a weapon as her son was being taken into custody.

Kathryn New, 60, died Wednesday after being taken to St. Joseph Medical Center, the News Tribune of Tacoma reported.

The Pierce County Sheriff’s Department said three bail bondsman went to a home in Graham to serve a warrant against the woman’s 30-year-old son for violating a protection order against her. He also had a $50,000 outstanding warrant for DUI.

After the bondsmen had the man in custody, the sheriff’s office said, the woman came out of a back room with a weapon and would not drop it. She was then tased and shot.

The bondsman was not arrested. The woman’s son, who also wasn’t identified, was taken into custody.

Pierce County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Ed Troyer said people who work for bail bonds companies are civilians with state rights to go into houses to retrieve people.