Man shot in face in front of Kent coffee shop; female suspect surrenders
KENT -- A frightening scene took place Tuesday as gunshots rang out in front of a busy coffee shop in Kent.
Police say a woman shot a man point-blank in front of the Starbucks on Highway 515 near SE 208th Street.
The suspect turned herself in to Tacoma police late Tuesday afternoon, but they won’t explain how it happened.
Police say the strip mall was packed with people when the shooting happened just about 1 p.m. Tuesday.
“I saw a guy kind of staggering,” said witness Sam Labberton. “I looked over and it looked like his hands were covered in blood.”
Another witness named Brittany was walking nearby when she heard the gunshot and she ran to see if she could help.
“I see this guy laying right there in the front by the door for the Starbucks and just blood everywhere,” Brittany said.
Police say the man and woman, both in their 20s, pulled up to order some coffee when the shot rang out. The female suspect then took off from the scene while customers started helping the victim.
“I heard a pop, got out of my car and saw a guy holding his face,” said Michael Tyler. “Tried to help him as much as I could until paramedics got here.”
Medics rushed the man to a local hospital and minutes later police learned the shooting suspect turned herself in to Tacoma police.
“He’s still alive,” said Kent Assistant Police Chief Derek Kammerzell. “He suffered a gunshot wound to the face. He was alive, conscious, he was not able to talk due to the wound but he was able to communicate and write down the suspect’s name.”
Folks at the busy strip mall are still in shock that something like this could happen, but they’re just happy nobody else got hurt.
“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” said Brittany. “I’ve lived in bad neighborhoods and this is a pretty good part of the neighborhood or so I thought until this happened today.”
The condition of the shooting victim and his relationship to the alleged shooter was not immediately known.