Thread: Armed man attacking Tacoma’s ICE detention center killed in officer-involved shooting

Armed man attacking Tacoma’s ICE detention center killed in officer-involved shooting

July 13, 2019 at 10:01 am Updated July 13, 2019 at 1:56 pm



1 of 2 | Officer Sam Lopez turns away would-be protesters in front of a road block near the Northwest Detention Center on Saturday... (Rebekah Welch / The Seattle Times) More

By Brian Contreras
Seattle Times staff reporter

Tacoma police said they shot at an armed man early Saturday who was attacking the Northwest Detention Center, the holding facility in Tacoma for federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The man died at the scene.

Around 4 a.m., officers responded to an ICE employee’s report of a man armed with a rifle and throwing homemade incendiaries at the building and vehicles in the detention center’s parking lot, as well as attempting to ignite a propane tank, according to Tacoma police. Officers say they saw the man wearing a satchel and holding flares, as well as the rifle.

Officers reported “shots fired,” police spokeswoman Loretta Cool said, at which point the officers had fired; she did not know whether the man also fired.

Officers retreated to cover, uninjured. After medical aid arrived, officers approached the man and determined that he had been shot and killed. It is unclear whether the man was shot by officers or shot himself, Cool said. All four involved officers fired their weapons, she said.

Detectives and forensics were processing the scene Saturday morning; the man’s name has not been released. “I don’t even think at this point in time he’s been identified,” Cool said.

The four male officers involved — ⁠ whose tenure with Tacoma police ranged from 20 years to 9 months — were placed on paid administrative leave per department policy. Their names won’t be released until further along in the investigation, according to Cool.

A spokeswoman for ICE, Tanya Roman, confirmed the shooting incident, and said no ICE employees were hurt nor involved. She referred questions to Tacoma police.

The shooting comes the day before Sunday’s planned national raid by ICE targeting hundreds of immigrants who have received deportation orders. The raid has sparked fears in the 10 cities targeted for enforcement; Seattle is not among them.

Activist group La Resistencia — ⁠ also known as NWDC Resistance, after Northwest Detention Center — ⁠ had initially planned a protest of the facility for Saturday afternoon, but postponed the event by a day after reporting road closures around the center and a 24-hour lock-down of the facility itself.

Maru Mora-Villalpando, an activist with La Resistancia, said the coalition was notified of the incident after the fact, but detainees at the facility, including one that she spoke with, have been left in the dark.

“They were not told that visits would not happen, were not told that the accident happened in the early morning. People in detention always are the last ones to know what’s happening outside,” Mora-Villalpando said.

La Resistencia has also recently dealt with three cases of medical neglect, she added, one of which ended in deportation and then death. “The conditions are getting really, really bad,” Mora-Villalpando said.

A spokesperson for the GEO Group, the private prison company that operates the Tacoma detention center, said that the company’s facilities have never been overcrowded or housed unaccompanied minors, the issue that has sparked national protests.

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle...ention-center/

Authorities did not immediately identify the gunman, saying in the statement the "medical examiner will release the identity of the victim when it is appropriate."

Police: Man with Rifle, ‘Incendiary Devices’ Attacked Migrant Detention Center Hours After ICE Protest

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AP Photo/Ted S. WarrenBOB PRICE13 Jul 2019

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Police in Tacoma, Washington, say they shot and killed a man armed with a rifle and throwing flammable objects at a migrant detention center. The attack followed a rally outside the facility by several hours. The motivation of the attacker has not been released at this time.

An employee at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma called police early Saturday morning to report a man with a rifle who was throwing “incendiary devices” and setting vehicles on fire, according to a report by QFox13.
The attack on the migrant detention center followed by several hours, a rally by migrant supporters outside the facility operated for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement by GEO Group.
It is unknown at this time if the individual was attacking the facility with anti-ICE motivations, anti-migrant motivations, or if it was unrelated to either motive; however, a statement from GEO Group, a Florida based company that operates the facility in Tacoma, attributed the attack to the anger resulting from misrepresentations in media.
The statement, published by QFox13 blamed a “factually inaccurate portrayal” of their detention centers for spurring “misplaced aggression and a dangerous environment for our employees.”
Tacoma police reported that officers responded to the call at about 4 a.m. on Saturday. The officers say the man wore a satchel and was holding flares, the Seattle Times reported. Spokeswoman Loretta Cool told reporters that officers reported, “shots fired.” The officers then fired at the suspect, she said. When officers approached the man, they determined he had been shot and killed.
“Police fired on the man in a parking lot across from the facility, striking him fatally,” QFox 13 reported.
Cool told the Seattle Times it is not clear at this time if the suspect shot himself or if police officers shot him. Officials have not yet released the suspect’s identity.
A rally planned for Saturday afternoon by the group La Resistencia had to be postponed due to road closures around the facility and the ongoing investigation, the group posted on its Facebook page.

Cool said that four officers were involved in the shooting. The four officers have been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.
The statement from GEO Group concluded, “Violence of any kind against our employees and property will not be tolerated. We are thankful for the quick and brave action by the Tacoma Police Department, which prevented innocent lives from being endangered.”
Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for the Breitbart Border team. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX and Facebook.

https://www.breitbart.com/border/201...r-ice-protest/

TOLD YOU A WEEK or 2 AGO THESE PEOPLE IN THAT AREA ARE "NUTS" BEYOND BELIEF!!!!! And I'm basing my opinion on what I experienced 30 YEARS AGO. GOTTA BE 100-1000 NUTTIER NOW!!!!!

"The Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the man killed at the Northwest Detention Center as Willem Van Spronsen, 69, of Vashon Island."

Man killed at Tacoma immigrant detention center jumped on cop in 2018 protest