4 fatally stabbed near Tacoma; suspect killed by deputy

KEY PENINSULA, Wash. — Four people were fatally stabbed and the suspected assailant was killed by a deputy on Tuesday outside a residence near Tacoma, Washington, authorities said.

According to the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office, deputies received a call at about 8:47 a.m. PT that a 32-year-old man was violating a protection order outside a home in Key Peninsula, located approximately 30 miles west of Tacoma, KIRO reported.

The sheriff’s office learned that the order was invalid because it had not yet been served, but deputies obtained it en route to the scene, according to the television station.

“So there’s kind of two parts to these orders, right? A judge issues them, but then we have to serve it on that person, so there’s knowledge of what is listed in that order,” Officer Shelbie Boyd, a spokesperson for the Tacoma Police Department, said during a news conference. “And then it becomes valid and served. So they have to be valid, and they have to be served. And this one just hadn’t been served yet.”

At about 9:30 a.m. PT, deputies received reports that the man was stabbing people outside the residence, the sheriff’s office said. The first deputy arrived at the scene three minutes later and shot the suspect, killing him, KIRO reported.

The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene, according to Boyd.

Three of the victims were pronounced dead at the scene, and the fourth victim died en route to an area hospital, the sheriff’s office said.

“Detectives are going to go door-to-door to piece together witness information to get this puzzle as complete as possible,” Boyd told reporters.

Pierce County Sheriff’s Deputy Carly Cappetto told reporters during the news conference that there was no ongoing threat to the public.

Investigators have not confirmed the relationship between the suspect and victims and have not released their names, KIRO reported. Boyd did tell reporters that the victims appeared to be adults.

The Associated Press, citing Pierce County court records, said a woman who lived at the address where Tuesday’s incident took place obtained a one-year protection order against her 32-year-old son.

She wrote that her son had mental health and substance abuse issues, had previously pushed her, and more recently had threatened her by saying that her “grave has been already dug up,” the AP reported.

The man had been “threatening me, abusing me both mentally and emotionally. Doing witchcraft/occult behavior and doing rituals in my home,” the woman wrote, according to court records. “Damaging personal belongings. Hurting my cat.

“I am an elderly disabled woman and he is taking advantage of me and my health.”

The Pierce County Force Investigation Team has taken over the investigation, which is ongoing, according to KIRO.

“Heartbreaking! Please pray for the victims, the victims’ families, and all First Responders,” Pierce County Sheriff Keith Swank wrote on X.

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