Man shot dead outside Lacey home; police seeking witnesses
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LACEY, Wash. - A quiet neighborhood of families erupted into a crime scene Saturday night as a 24-year-old man was shot dead outside his home in Lacey.
Now police are trying to figure out what led to the shooting and who might be responsible.
Officers and medics reponded to the scene, in the 5700 block of 19th Avenue SE, at about 9:50 p.m. Saturday after receiving a report of a stabbing, said Lt. Phil Comstock of the Lacey Police Department.
When police arrived, they found a shooting victim with life-threatening injuries near the front door of a home there. He was rushed to St. Peter Hospital in Olympia, where he was pronounced dead.
The initial investigation has determined that the man was shot once outside the home.
Two family members and a female friend of the victim were inside the house at the time of the shooting but apparently did not see what happened. They told investigators that the man lived at the home.
Several neighbors recalled hearing a gunshot in the area, but no eyewitnesses to the shooting have been located, Comstock said.
One woman who lives nearby said she heard the noise but thought it was someone shooting off fireworks. She and others said it was a safe neighborhood where kids play.
"Yeah, it's scary, but life goes on," says neighbor Jason Stewart, who just moved his family into the neighborhood two weeks ago in part because it seemed so safe. "It can't keep us from doing what we normally do. I'm not going to keep the kids inside 'just because.'"
The name of the victim is not being released at this time.
Comstock later said investigators do not believe the shooting was random, although officers are still determining the relationship between the victim and the suspect or suspects.
The victim was believed not to be armed with a gun. A broken bat was found nearby that may have been used by the victim in an apparent altercation prior to shooting.
After he was shot, it appears the victim crawled or staggered across the street and reached the front door of his house, where he was found.
No suspects have been arrested.
Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to call the Lacey Police Department at (360) 459-4333 or Olympia-Thurston County Crime Stoppers at (360) 493-2222.
Now police are trying to figure out what led to the shooting and who might be responsible.
Officers and medics reponded to the scene, in the 5700 block of 19th Avenue SE, at about 9:50 p.m. Saturday after receiving a report of a stabbing, said Lt. Phil Comstock of the Lacey Police Department.
When police arrived, they found a shooting victim with life-threatening injuries near the front door of a home there. He was rushed to St. Peter Hospital in Olympia, where he was pronounced dead.
The initial investigation has determined that the man was shot once outside the home.
Two family members and a female friend of the victim were inside the house at the time of the shooting but apparently did not see what happened. They told investigators that the man lived at the home.
Several neighbors recalled hearing a gunshot in the area, but no eyewitnesses to the shooting have been located, Comstock said.
One woman who lives nearby said she heard the noise but thought it was someone shooting off fireworks. She and others said it was a safe neighborhood where kids play.
"Yeah, it's scary, but life goes on," says neighbor Jason Stewart, who just moved his family into the neighborhood two weeks ago in part because it seemed so safe. "It can't keep us from doing what we normally do. I'm not going to keep the kids inside 'just because.'"
The name of the victim is not being released at this time.
Comstock later said investigators do not believe the shooting was random, although officers are still determining the relationship between the victim and the suspect or suspects.
The victim was believed not to be armed with a gun. A broken bat was found nearby that may have been used by the victim in an apparent altercation prior to shooting.
After he was shot, it appears the victim crawled or staggered across the street and reached the front door of his house, where he was found.
No suspects have been arrested.
Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to call the Lacey Police Department at (360) 459-4333 or Olympia-Thurston County Crime Stoppers at (360) 493-2222.
