Four people were stabbed and killed at a home where an elderly woman had tried to obtain a domestic violence protective order against her son.
Washington state police responded to a report that a 32-year-old man was violating a protective order on Tuesday when they realized the order had never been served, according to the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office.
The woman said her son was suffering from ‘grandiosity, auditory hallucinations, and command hallucinations.’
They rushed to serve the order against him, but as they were on the way, other calls came in about a man stabbing people at the same address near Tacoma. When they arrived, they found that he had allegedly stabbed four people, who later died.
Police then shot and killed the man. He was declared dead at the scene.
KING-TV reported that people had been stabbed in the back yard of the home as well as in the front street.
Records show that the woman at the address had sought a protective order against her son on the basis that he had mental health and substance abuse issues, and had pushed her. He also made a threat to her after saying her “grave has been already dug up.”
The woman wrote that he had been doing “witchcraft/occult behavior and doing rituals” at her home, as well as “damaging personal belongings” and hurting her cat.
“I am an elderly disabled woman, and he is taking advantage of me and my health,” she added.
The son did not appear before court, and she was granted the protective order, which restricted him from being within 1,000 feet of her and ordered him to comply with a mental health plan. However, he wasn’t served the order, and WDIV-TV reported that it was unclear why he wasn’t served.
The woman said her son was suffering from “grandiosity, auditory hallucinations, and command hallucinations,” which were worsening.
Authorities have not yet released the names of the people killed or of the man killed by deputies.
A neighbor in the area described what he witnessed.
“All of a sudden, I just heard, like, a series of gunshots. You could really hear it echoing through the trees,” Chris Cardenas said.
He said he saw ambulances and dozens of police cars at the scene of the crime, which he described as tragic.
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