Thurston County Deputies Arrest One After Shooting Near Church and School 

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Deputies arrested a person in connection with a shooting that occurred near a Lacey area church late Tuesday evening.

The shooting occurred before 9:50 a.m. near the 7500 block of Sixth Avenue Southeast, Lt. Cameron Simper told The Olympian.

A deputy responded to the scene and found a man with minor injuries, Simper said. The man reportedly told the deputy he had been shot at, but not shot, by two suspects. Both of the suspects fled before deputies arrived.

Simper said the man had arranged to buy fentanyl from the two suspects, but they instead robbed him. Both suspects allegedly fired shots at the man and his vehicle. Simper said the man returned fire and a neighbor fired shots as well.

Deputies later located one of the suspects at Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia, where they were being treated for a gunshot wound, Simper said. That suspect was later booked into Thurston County jail on suspicion of first-degree robbery and assault, according to the jail log.

The second suspect has not yet been located, Simper said.

The investigation was ongoing as of Wednesday. Additional charges would be forthcoming for the people involved, Simper said.

The Sheriff's Office announced the investigation in a Facebook post Wednesday morning. That post indicated the shooting occurred on the 500 block of School Street Southeast, which is adjacent to the block Simper provided.

St. Andrew's United Methodist Church is on that block of School Street, which is also near Lydia Hawk Elementary School.



Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that's 50-100 times stronger than morphine and is often mixed with other substances without the user's knowledge.

Overdose deaths involving fentanyl more than doubled from 51 deaths in 2021 to at least 114 deaths in 2022, Coroner Gary Warnock told the Board of Health on Tuesday.

RESOURCES

Narcan, generically known as naloxone, is a medicine used to rapidly reverse opioid overdoses. The state Department of Health has a list of instructions and resources on its website, as well as a search engine to help people find naloxone near them.

Thurston County's Public Health & Social Services department also offers a clean syringe program and naloxone training; more information can be found on the department's website.

Those in need of help for substance abuse or mental health concerns can call the Washington Recovery Help Line at 866-789-1511.

Anyone experiencing a crisis can call 988 to reach a national lifeline.

Education on how to prevent opioid overdose can be found at stopoverdose.org.