Two teenagers have been charged in connection with a May shooting at a Pierce County park that injured seven people, including one of the alleged shooters, according to prosecutors.
Na’Quarius Seale, 19, was arrested Sept. 12 in the Seattle area, said Lakewood police Sgt. Charles Porche. Court records show an arrest warrant was issued for Seale in June after he was identified as a suspect in the May 28 shooting at Harry Todd Park at American Lake. Charged with three counts of first-degree assault, he remains jailed in lieu of $2 million bail.
Jonathan Williams-Comoza, 17, turned himself in Wednesday at the Pierce County Jail, Porche said. He was charged as an adult with four counts of first-degree assault and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm. Booked into Remann Hall, the county’s juvenile detention center, Williams-Comoza is also being held in lieu of $2 million bail.
The investigation
Just before 8 p.m. on May 28, Lakewood police officers responded to a shooting at the park and provided medical aid until medics arrived and transported four people to hospitals, charging papers say. Other victims, including Williams-Comoza, were later reported being taken to or in hospitals.
A witness came forward with video footage from just before the shooting that showed Williams-Comoza walking around the corner of the bathroom building with his left hand hidden in the pocket of his black zip-up sweatshirt, positioned as if holding a handgun, according to the charges. The witness, sensing something was going to happen, ran and heard a single gunshot followed by a barrage of gunfire.
The spot where Williams-Comoza was seen in the video matched the location where investigators found 9 mm shell casings and a blood trail, charging papers say. Detectives also found a black zip-up sweatshirt and a loaded extended magazine, both believed to belong to Williams-Comoza, the charges say.
Based on witness accounts, audio and video footage, social media posts, anonymous tips and forensic evidence, investigators believe the shooting was gang related and involved “a longstanding feud” between Seale and Williams-Comoza, whose best friend and teammate on his high school football team was fatally gunned down in Tacoma in April, according to the charges.
Members of Seale’s gang livestreamed a planned desecration of the victim’s memorial site, “where they were seen kicking and stomping on candles while disparaging the victim’s name,” the charges say. Though the charges don’t name the victim, they presumably reference the April 20 shooting of 17-year-old Veron Lockett, a junior and member of the Mount Tahoma High School football team.
The shooting
During the investigation, detectives learned Williams-Comoza had been at the park for hours before a group of men wearing puffy jackets and hoodies arrived, charging papers say. Seale, who was among the group, apparently challenged Williams-Comoza to a fight, which he accepted, but then Seale pulled a gun and shot Williams-Comoza in the arm, according to the charges.
Williams-Comoza returned fire with a gun modified with a switch, allowing it to fire in fully automatic mode, say the charges, adding that he “fired recklessly and indiscriminately to the north,” injuring four people.
Those four victims were a 38-year-old woman, who was shot in both legs; a 19-year-old man, who was shot in the elbow; a 17-year-old boy, who was shot in the shoulder and arm; and a 20-year-old man, who was shot in the left cheek.
“Investigators believe the entire initial exchange of gunfire occurred in a span of approximately two seconds,” the charges say.
Williams-Comoza was shot in the knee by Seale or someone in his group as he ran from the scene, according to the charges. Two people who were directly behind Williams-Comoza were also hit: A 38-year-old man, who was critically injured by a gunshot to the stomach, and a 16-year-old girl, who was shot in the buttocks.