Barricaded Man Who Prompted Tacoma Standoff Was Unarmed, Police Say

A man who barricaded himself in a Tacoma shed Tuesday after being shot at by a Pierce County sheriff’s deputy was unarmed and tried to kill himself before he was taken into custody, court records state.

Kelly Gruver Jr., 36, was charged Wednesday with trying to elude a pursuing police vehicle, obstructing a law enforcement officer and third-degree driving on a suspended license.

The pursuit and ensuing SWAT standoff Tuesday put three Tacoma schools on lockdown and shut down a neighborhood for more than an hour.

Although a sheriff’s spokesman initially said Gruver exchanged gunfire with the deputy, it does not appear he was armed.

A police officer was leaving Baker Middle School when he saw the deputy chasing a Jeep. He followed in case he was needed, keeping some distance behind them.

When he came to the area where the Jeep crashed, the officer said, he saw the deputy, gun in hand, near the front of his patrol car and giving Gruver commands. Within seconds, the deputy fired two shots toward Gruver, who ran into a shed.

After the incident, the deputy who fired shots at Gruver was placed on paid administrative leave, standard procedure when a deputy fires his on-duty weapon. (Tacoma News Tribune, October 3, 2018)
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If Gruver had a handgun and shot at the deputy as originally claimed, then there is a firearm abandoned somewhere near the site where Gruver crashed the Jeep.