All right, we want to get back
now to that breaking news we told
you about at the top of the hour,
a triple shooting in Yakima
earlier this morning.
We want to go right now to that live
press conference with Yakima police,
an update now on what
unfolded this afternoon.
The the the threat was never really
gone and I will go into some detail
about that and then I want to thank
law enforcement and if any of you
were out at the scene which I suspect
most of you were it's a pretty long
list but it's it's really we couldn't
do this alone and and it's really
important I think to make sure to
point folks out and to thank them.
So Yakima police patrol,
the Yakima SWAT team gang unit
detectives of all NYPD detectives,
the Yakima Sheriff's Office, Grandview.
3D Union Gap PD Moxy PD the
Washington State Patrol.
Benton County actually sent a tactical team,
I believe. Lieutenant, is that right?
Benton County's tactical team?
OK, canine and the tactical team tri-cities
Regional also sent folks to help us.
The FBI was very helpful today.
US Marshals as well,
Fish and Wildlife, state parks.
And then of course,
we couldn't do anything without a suncom
communication and the YSO dispatch,
which helped us keep everything coordinated
and working smoothly and safely.
Excuse me.
So with that,
I think most of you have heard
what happened today.
I'm gonna recap kind of the end
of the day and then I'm going to
take questions from all of you.
And then for folks watching live on Facebook,
we will take questions from media.
If you just type in your question
and what agency you work with,
organization and your name,
we'll call that out and do our best
to answer as many questions as we can.
But I want to start with the folks
who are here in the room but.
That.
I think it was 216, captain, is that right?
2216 PM We received a 911 call.
As many of you are aware,
we had a SWAT call out.
We had a house around it where we
were hoping the suspect was located,
but he was not.
He was over by the Target store in Yakima.
Could I get that map up?
So we have a a map here for you all to use.
This is the target store the front faces.
East.
And we get a 911 call that says that
the suspect had borrowed a woman's phone.
He then called his mother and he made
several incriminating statements,
including I killed those people.
He made several statements in front of
her that he was then going to kill himself.
She then was able to get her phone and
try to separate from him and call 911.
I listened to that call.
It's pretty harrowing and I and I have
to really thank her again because she
was very courageous in getting us there.
And so the information that she was providing
said that he was near the Pizza Hut,
which is on the South East
side of the Target store.
Officers began immediately responding
and within minutes the suspect was
actually located right in this area near
the local roots of marijuana store.
He the suspect.
Apparently shot and killed himself,
and that was prior to officers arrival.
There were officers who heard the shots,
but no one saw him actually do that.
He was pronounced deceased at the scene.
Is that correct?
So they they medical care tried
to save his life,
but he was later pronounced deceased.
I'm sorry. He was not.
He was on foot and we don't know.
Oh, how he got to this area and
that's one of the things and I'm
happy to answer those questions,
but obviously that that drew a
resolution to this to some degree.
Yeah, we're gonna have to go through
the formal process of identification,
but everything that we see and and
what he said and what happened
leads us to believe this is the
same person that was involved in
the shootings at the Circle K and
the ARCO gas station this morning.
Clearly, we have to have a more
formal process,
but I can say with a pretty good
confidence that we believe that
this is the person who was involved
in those incidents today.
I I briefly just want to say the family was.
Cooperative with us all day and we also
appreciate their assistance in this
and of course a devastating time for them.
With that, I think I will just
go ahead and answer questions.
Yes, ma'am.
I don't believe the home he
was at was his parents' home.
Do we know that? OK, so yes,
we did have information that he was there.
We were having trouble confirming
that he was still there.
And to be honest,
I don't know what we could say for
a fact when he left and how he left.
We did have some video but it was
really grainy and difficult to to.
Discern I will say that we obviously
have to assume he's there and assume
he's out and and react according
to both of those possibilities.
So there was a long,
long ordeal at the house with the hope,
of course,
that he was contained in the House.
Emily.
In.
Alright, you've just been watching
a live press conference with the
Yakima Police chief.
This after a triple shooting in Yakima
that started about 3:00 o'clock
this morning at a gas station.
We know that the suspect walked into
a gas station it's believed killed
two people inside that gas station,
then walked out and shot a third person.
All three of those people
were killed in Yakima.
All day long the police chief has
been saying they believed this
was a random act of violence.
That gunman then got into a car after firing.
Multiple shots and drove away.
They thought they had tracked
him to another house in Yakima.
They surrounded it with SWAT units.
Turned out that suspect was
not at that location.
They just now told media that actually
the suspect went to a different location,
asked someone to if he could
borrow their cell phone,
then proceeded to call his mother and
made several incriminating statements
believed to be confessing to what
had happened earlier this morning
and then did in fact kill himself,
that person.
Who he had borrowed the phone
from is the one who called 911.
This has been unfolding for hours all
day long today as they continue to
look for that suspect at this hour.
We do know the suspect in that triple
shooting in Yakima this morning.
That suspect has now been killed.
They believe that he killed himself.
So this is a developing story.
Obviously we will continue to
follow it throughout the rest
of the evening as it unfolds.
But again, that suspect is dead.
Three people though,
killed earlier this morning in Yakima,
we'll continue to have more.
Coming up on Crime 2 news at 5:00 and 6:00.