PIERCE COUNTY, Wash. — Court filings reveal a history of safety concerns at a Pierce County home where five people were killed on Tuesday.

Deputies initially responded around 8:45 a.m. to the 14000 block of 87th Ave Court Northwest for a report of a man violating a protection order. By the time the first deputy arrived, he found the suspect actively stabbing someone. The deputy shot and killed the suspect.

Four stabbing victims, all adults, died from stab wounds inflicted by the suspect prior to police arriving, according to investigators.

Police said the suspect is a 32-year-old male, but he has not been publicly identified.

History of trouble at the home

Court records show that last year, a woman who lived at the home had petitioned for a protective order in Pierce County Superior Court, citing threatening behavior by a 32-year-old man who lived there.

KOMO News is not naming the man until his identification has been confirmed by the medical examiner.

According to the April 2025 petition, a woman said her son had been abusing her physically and mentally.

“Doing witchcraft/occult behavior and doing rituals in my home, damaging personal belongings,” the woman wrote in the petition. “Hurting my cat. Thinks an Egyptian God! Refuses to get a job. I am an elderly disabled woman, and he is taking advantage of me and my health.”

The petition lays out an incident in April of last year where family members noticed things missing from the home and were alerted to a strange smell coming from the garage.

“The smoke detector was going off, and my son was acting delusional,” the woman wrote. “Evidence of occult rituals was present.”

Court records show the petition was granted and served shortly after. Investigators said the protective order at the center of Tuesday’s dispute had not yet been served on the suspect, so it is not clear if it was a separate petition from last year’s.

Deputy staffing concerns in the area

Authorities confirm the deputy went into the scene without backup to confront the suspect as the scene was still active.

The deputy is part of the Peninsula Detachment of the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office, which is responsible for the rural western area of the county.

RELATED | Pierce County hands out $5K bonuses to deputies in attempt to stop them from leaving

Sources confirmed to KOMO News that the deputy who responded was the only deputy working in his assigned district at the time.

Despite significant population growth in the area, sheriff’s staffing has declined over recent years, with around 50 deputy vacancies reported last year.

Next steps in the investigation

The Pierce County Force Investigation Team (PCFIT) is now in charge of the shooting investigation involving the deputy.

While deputies in Pierce County are equipped with dash cameras and body cameras, those videos are generally not made public until the PCFIT investigation concludes, which can take years.