Kent, Tacoma, WA shooting suspect dead after hours-long standoff

SEATTLE - A Kent man suspected in a shooting and armed robbery ended his own life during a SWAT standoff Wednesday afternoon. The standoff took place at a home off 253rd Place and 139th Place Southeast in Kent, near Meridian Elementary School. Officers rolled in at around 3 p.m. and surrounded the home. A 20-year-old man wanted in connection to two shootings was in the home. One of the shootings happened at the Tacoma Walmart on Tuesday, and the other was an armed robbery in Kent on April 24.

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Scoop News DeskTacoma, Washington · Published Thursday, August 6, 2026 at 4:31 AM UTCUpdated Thursday, August 6, 2026 at 1:31 PM UTC

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5, 2026. (FOX 13 Seattle) Police said the suspect barricaded himself inside the home, and negotiators established phone contact with him, trying to get him to peacefully surrender. In the April 24 shooting in Kent, a 26-year-old Kent man was hospitalized and airlifted to Harborview with multiple gunshot wounds. "Our officers, detectives, negotiators, and the Valley SWAT Team approached this incident with one goal—to safely take a dangerous suspect into custody peacefully," said Kent Police Chief Rafael Padilla. "While today's incident did not end as anyone had hoped, I am grateful that no other people were physically harmed.