SPD Investigating Potential Threat at Tacoma University

A Tacoma college student has been hospitalized and served with an Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) after investigators say he posted a picture of a shotgun on a messaging app referencing a mass shooting.

On May 26 just before 1:00 p.m., patrol officers received a crisis complaint after a photograph of a shotgun was seen on a Discord message. The weapon was linked to a student who, according to police, had become, “increasingly erratic and radicalized “and “clearly modeling his ideology off of a mass murderer.”

University officials were quickly notified.  

While investigating, police discovered the man, who lives in Seattle, had left his apartment with a shotgun carrying case. Patrol officers, working with SPD’s Crisis Response Team, found the man and detained him, believing he now presented an imminent danger to the public. The man did not have the shotgun on him.

Paramedics transported the man to a local hospital for medical evaluation and served him with an ERPO, which prevents individuals at high risk of harming themselves or others from accessing firearms when there is demonstrated evidence that the person poses a significant danger.

The man told police he buried the shotgun in the woods near Robinson Community Park in Bellevue. Police searched the area and found the gun with the writing now scratched off. Officers seized the weapon as evidence.

Detectives in the Crisis Response Unit are assigned to this case.

If you or someone you know needs mental health assistance, please reach out to The National Suicide and Crisis Hotline by calling 988.

988 is the nationwide, three-digit number for anyone experiencing a mental health crisis, thoughts of suicide, or emotional distress—available 24/7 across the U.S.

988 supports individuals and their loved ones, offering guidance for how to help someone in crisis and access community resources.

Please see this link for Information on Extreme Risk Protection Orders.

Incident Number: 2026-147917

Seattle police find a shotgun buried in the woods during an investigation involving a potential mass shooting.