An argument by the pool table in Tacoma's Alleycat bar turned deadly early Sunday morning when a 28-year-old man pulled a handgun and shot five people, sending patrons running to the street or ducking for cover.
A witness told Tacoma Police Department detectives after the gunman shot a man in front of the person he was arguing with, he started firing into the Sixth Avenue bar "indiscriminately." A man and a woman were killed in the shooting, and three other men were wounded.
Alante Bryan Peterson was charged Tuesday with two counts of aggravated first-degree murder, two counts of first-degree murder and three counts of first-degree assault.
A plea of not guilty was made on Peterson's behalf at his arraignment Tuesday afternoon in Pierce County Superior Court. A court commissioner set his bail at $4 million.
Peterson does not have any prior criminal convictions, according to court records, and before his arrest, he'd been living at an address in Tacoma's South End for about four months. He was also a full-time employee of a property management company.
Several members of the victims' families were in attendance for Peterson's arraignment. Two family members held up a photo of one of the victims when Peterson entered the courtroom. The photos were held up for the entirety of his hearing.
It is unclear if anyone from the defendant's family attended.
Many family members broke into tears throughout the hearing. After it was over, family members went to the entryway of the County-City building where a verbal argument broke out. There was reportedly some shoving and deputies ran to the entryway to stop the argument.
Those killed in the shooting have yet to be identified by the county medical examiner's office. A memorial of candles and flowers popped up Monday in front of The Alleycat, which has been in business at 2708 6th Ave. since October 2019. The News Tribune's food reporter wrote that it's an "everyday bar" in a long and narrow space.
When officers responded to reports of shots fired at about 1:30 a.m., they found four victims clustered near the pool table with gunshot wounds of varying severity, according to prosecutors' charging documents. A 35-year-old man shot multiple times was declared dead on scene, and a 34-year-old woman with gunshot wounds to the head and leg was transported to a hospital where she died of her injuries.
Another man shot in the groin was going in and out of consciousness, and a fourth victim's chest was grazed by a bullet and was shot in the leg. Records state the fifth victim told police he was by the pool table and ran out of the bar when he heard five to six gunshots, and he didn't stop running until a friend noticed he'd been shot.
The fatal shooting marked the 27th and 28th homicides in Tacoma this year, according to The News Tribune's records. At this time last year, the city had recorded 39 killings.
Several witnesses told police the shooter ran from the bar, charging papers state, and a resident on North Oakes Street reported hearing shots and seeing a man who matched the description of the shooter running with a woman.
A bystander's cellphone video captured some of the argument preceding the shooting, according to prosecutors, and it appeared to show that the 35-year-old man who was killed was standing slightly in front of the person Peterson was actually arguing with. Prosecutors wrote that several clips appeared to show the shooter and the man later shot in the groin yelling back and forth at each other.
The woman who was killed was found lying right next to the man yelling with Peterson, records state.
The bystander allegedly told police she knew the shooter by the name "Dangerous," and he came to the bar with a woman who she'd planned to meet up with to play darts. Prosecutors wrote that "Dangerous" was later confirmed to be defendant Peterson, and he was the father of the woman's child.
"Some of the conversation appears to be [the victim] yelling at the defendant to 'Stay with your broad' and then saying, 'Why you talking to me bro, why you talking to me. I don't even know your name ... Get the [expletive] out of here.'" records state.
The victim had been inserting himself into unwanted conversations with women, the bystander allegedly told police, and she said the man identified as Peterson appeared to get annoyed. She allegedly said at one point Peterson told the man to leave the women alone, and then she heard the sound of a gun being racked.
Officers recovered multiple shell casings on the floor to the south of the pool table, according to charging documents.
Peterson went to Tacoma police headquarters with his attorney Sunday afternoon and surrendered to officers, according to charging documents. He declined to be interviewed by detectives. A detective reportedly asked the attorney about the gun used in the shooting, but it was not turned over.
