By Jacob Dimond
jake@yelmonline.com
Thurston County Sheriff’s Office (TCSO) arrested a homeowner near Lake Lawrence during the afternoon hours of Sunday, Nov. 10, after “suspicious circumstances” surrounding a 911 call led to a homicide investigation.
The victim of the alleged homicide was believed to be a visitor to the home. According to TCSO Lt. Mike Brooks, it is suspected the male victim was shot to death.
Brooks wrote in a press release that, just before 8 a.m., agency deputies responded to a suspicious 911 call at a residence on 153rd Avenue Southeast, near Lake Lawrence in unincorporated Yelm. Upon arrival, deputies were informed by the homeowner that a second person was inside the house, but little information was otherwise shared.
“[The suspicious circumstances were] the dynamics of how the call came in. It wasn’t somebody calling and saying there were shots fired or that a gun was involved,” Brooks told the Nisqually Valley News Sunday afternoon. “It was really unusual, and there’s nothing to really pinpoint what it was. What was coming through didn’t make a lot of sense.
“When [deputies] contacted him, he confirmed that there was someone in the house but made no comment about someone being deceased or someone being injured, or whether or not he knew the person. There were so many weird things being said and relayed, and it made the call very unusual for both dispatch and deputies,” Brooks added.
According to the press release, agency deputies entered the home shortly after making contact with the homeowner and discovered an unresponsive male on the floor who appeared to be deceased.
“We spoke with the homeowner and pieced all the details that we could together and evidence on the scene and statements made. There’s no evidence at this time that would try to justify it as a self-defense incident,” Brooks said. “There was enough evidence, and he couldn’t support any legal justification for the shooting, and he was arrested.”
Brooks added that the homicide appears to be an isolated incident, and that residents near the house should not be worried as the victim was not a home invader.
“The victim is somebody that the suspect stopped to help,” Brooks said. “As the press release notes, the information we have says that he was an invited guest into the house. The two recently met, and he was invited into the home.”
