A pair of carjackings and a chaotic hunt for a suspect ended with the shooting death of an armed man by a civilian in the parking lot of a Walmart superstore in Tumwater, according to police and witnesses.
Tumwater Police spokeswoman Laura Wohl said the driver of a car the suspect was attempting to carjack was also shot. He was transported by air ambulance to Harborview Medical Center, 60 miles to the north in Seattle. Susan Gregg, a spokeswoman at Harborview, said the man was in critical condition.
A third victim, a 16-year-old girl was injured at another location, near Tumwater High School, but was not seriously hurt, police said. Wohl did not know whether the girl had been shot.
Police did not release the identities of the victims or the suspect.
Wohl said the chaotic string of incidents began just before 5 p.m. with a report of a possibly intoxicated, erratic driver near Tumwater High School. Wohl said that while police were en route there, the department received reports of a carjacking and shots fired at a nearby intersection. That is when the 16-year-old was injured, police said.
While officers were attempting to locate that vehicle, police received reports of additional shots fired at the Walmart, where the suspect reportedly abandoned the first stolen car and tried to carjack another vehicle. When the driver wouldn’t give him the car, Wohl said the man shot him. The suspects was apparently trying to carjack yet another vehicle when an armed civilian intervened and shot the man, Wohl said.
Wohl said two armed bystanders moved to confront the suspect, and at least one of them fired. The investigation is continuing, she said.
Brian Adams was shopping said he took cover behind vehicles in the Walmart parking lot. Adams said he wound up being near where the suspect was eventually shot.
Adams called the bystander fired on the suspect a hero.
“This guy could have taken out more people, wounded or killed,” said Adams.
Wohl said that during the attempted carjackings, the man apparently fired into other vehicles as well. Witnesses recounted hearing numerous gunshots.
The suspect’s body remained lying in the parking lot behind yellow police crime scene tape for several hours and police conducting an extensive search of the area for shell casings and other evidence.
A dispatcher said there were multiple calls to 911 reporting shots fired at the store.
Wohl said she said didn’t know if the shooter ever entered the Walmart, though at least one customer who was in the store said he heard shots that sounded like they were fired in the building.
Darren Gossler of Elma told the Tacoma News Tribune that he was in the store when the shooting started. He tweeted: “I was in the dairy section. Heard about 5 or 6 pops. Ran out a side emergency exit and attempted to run to my car in the parking lot but heard 4 more pops in the lot. Caught a quick glimpse of a male with what appeared to be a handgun. Ducked under some cars and ran to Costco.”
Robert Berwick, a 54-year-old Olympia resident who stepped into Walmart to buy briquettes and a water filter said he was in the back of store when he heard shots in the building.
He began to run and found his way out to through the massive store’s doors by the pharmacy.
“There were all kinds of people running out,” he said.
About 25 people Sunday evening gathered outside a gas station adjacent the Walmart, many wearing company uniforms.
Some of them directed vehicles away from the parking lot of the store, which was ringed with yellow tape. Washington State Patrol and Thurston County Sheriff trucks shuttled in and out of the Walmart lot.
