Spanaway man shot, killed by Pierce County deputy

A 28-year-old Spanaway man was shot and killed Friday night during a confrontation with a Pierce County Sheriff's Office deputy.  Now those who knew him are coming to terms with what happened.

William Langfitt had allegedly threatened a friend with a knife, tried to carjack a couple of drivers, then tried getting into the deputy's patrol car.  That is when he was shot dead.

According to the Pierce County sheriff, a woman called 911 to report her friend, Langfitt, was having a mental breakdown in the middle of 252nd Street East in Spanaway's Elk Plain neighborhood.

At one point, she screamed and said he had a knife. It sounded like he tried to attack her during the call. Then Langfitt took off on foot. The caller said he was trying to jump into drivers' vehicles.

When the deputy arrived, Langfitt allegedly tried to jump into his patrol car.  The deputy shot him.

"I heard something," said Clin Twitchell, a neighbor. "I heard about eight pop, pop, pop, pop."

Twitchell said gunfire isn't unusual in his rural neighborhood.

"And we're close to the base, too, so you hear stuff like that all the time," said Twitchell.

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A friend believes drugs are likely to blame.

"He was one of my best friends," said Jennifer Hatkoff, her eyes filling up with tears. "And to lose touch with him because -- drugs."

The news hit Hatkoff hard.

"I have lost a lot of friends from high school to drugs," she said, wiping her eyes.

"Just remembering the good times that we had, and we had six years together. And so it's just, it's hard."

The news brought back painful memories for Hatkoff. Court documents show in 2010 Langfitt stole from her to score money for drugs.

"I didn't want to be that person," Hatkoff said. "But I filed a police report against him, my best friend. Didn't think I'd ever have to do that to him."

He paid her back and got clean, she said.  And now this.

"It's very, very sad," Hatkoff said.  "And heartbreaking."

As is standard when law enforcement is involved in a shooting, the deputy has been placed on paid administrative leave.

Cox Media Group