TUMWATER, Wash. — Tim Day has been identified as the armed suspect killed by a bystander Sunday in a Walmart parking lot in Washington state, police said Monday.
Authorities say the string of crimes began earlier Sunday when the 44-year-old man from McCleary, Washington, is believed to have unsuccessfully attempted to carjack a family at a gas station in Olympia, which is about 60 miles (97 kilometers) southwest of Seattle.
He fled after the attempt, according to police, and was later seen driving erratically before crashing into another vehicle in nearby Tumwater. A 16-year-old boy and another person were treated for minor injuries near the crash, but authorities didn’t disclose if the injuries were from the crash or if they had been shot.
After crashing his car, Day “attempted to carjack at least two other vehicles, fired shots at the vehicles, and demanded owners abandon their cars,” Tumwater police spokeswoman Laura Wohl said in a news release.
She said Day eventually carjacked a vehicle, which he drove to Walmart about a mile (1.6 kilometer) north of the crash. Police said he went inside, “fired at a locked ammunition display case, removed some ammunition and exited the store.”
Day then tried to carjack another person and shot the driver twice when he did not comply, police said.
Two shoppers in the store who were legally carrying firearms ran to the parking lot after hearing the gunshots. Police say a 47-year-old man from Oakville, Washington, shot Day as he tried to carjack another driver.
Day died at the scene, police said.
The man from Oakville retrieved a first-aid kit from his car and provided aid to the driver who had been shot until medics arrived, police said. Officials said Monday that the driver remains in critical condition at a Seattle hospital.
