A man who went from praising the Seattle Seahawks on Monday to claiming Tuesday to be God is believed to have shot a Pierce County sheriff's deputy before dying in a standoff.
The deputy, whose name was not released, was hit in the arm when his body armor deflected a bullet to his chest, and he's expected to live, sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said.
He gave this account of the shootings Tuesday in Spanaway:
Authorities responded about 3:30 p.m. to a storage unit in the 21600 block of Mountain Highway East after reports that a man there was threatening to kill people and might be a danger to himself. A SWAT team was dispatched.
About 4:15 p.m., the deputy was wounded as the suspect, barricaded inside the unit, fired on deputies. They returned fire, but it was not clear whether the suspect was hit.
About 5:30 p.m., after the suspect quit communicating with officials, deputies entered the storage unit, where they found the man dead.
It had not been determined Tuesday night how he died, but he appeared to have a gunshot wound, Troyer said.
The deputies who fired will be placed on administrative leave, per procedure, as the investigation proceeds, he said. He didn't immediately know how many that would be.
The man had body armor and multiple firearms in the unit, where he apparently had been staying.
Troyer said investigators believed they know who the 27-year-old guy man was, but that the medical examiner had not yet identified him, pending notification of the family.
A Facebook profile, which a friend said was that of the suspected shooter, features a tribute song for the Seahawks posted Monday night.
Multiple messages on Tuesday stated the author was God. One said, "God just recorded a rap song with me we are going to change the world."
If anyone, including police, tried to touch him, the poster wrote, "I will rip out your throat."
Troyer said investigators believed drugs were involved in the standoff, and that one of the things they were looking into were reports that the suspect was upset that a significant other and their child had left recently.
One person wrote on the Facebook page, "... pull it together and seek counsel please."
"Not cool dude," and "I'm really worried about you," wrote others.
Several hours before the standoff, the profile's author wrote that he was "a regular kid from puyallup washington who didnt want any of this."
Copyright 2013 - The News Tribune (Tacoma, Wash.)
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
