TACOMA, Wash. — A 29-year-old has been charged with allegedly stabbing three of his housemates and setting their recovery home on fire.
On Jan. 20, police and fire crews were called to a home on South 34th Street in Tacoma after multiple people called 911 to report that they or a roommate had been stabbed, and that the building was on fire.
When crews arrived, they saw visible flames coming from the living room.
Other housemates began running out of the home, and at one point, there was an explosion of flames, court documents detailed. One person was “actively on fire” when they ran outside, and others were burned, court docs said.
“It was pretty chaotic once officers got on scene, we had people self-evacuating from upper levels of the house,” said Officer Shelbie Boyd with the Tacoma Police Department.
Those who were stabbed and escaped the fire told police that one of their housemates, Andrew Keen, had begun stabbing several of them around 4 a.m., court documents allege.
According to court documents, Keen’s mental health had been declining in the three days that he had been at the clean and sober home.
Hours before the stabbings, Keen allegedly accused his roommate of stealing “something intangible” from him. Housemates who tried to calm him down learned that Keen was allegedly upset that his roommate had stolen his thoughts and emotions from him.
The housemates were able to talk Keen down from the fight with his roommate. But hours later, that same housemate was woken up at 4 a.m. to the sound of someone screaming that they had been stabbed and that the house was on fire.
All three stabbing victims were taken to the hospital. On the day of the assault and arson, Tacoma Fire reported that two of the victims were taken to the hospital in serious condition, and the third was taken to Harborview Medical Center in life-threatening condition.
Tacoma Fire Department’s preliminary report confirms that multiple small fires were intentionally set inside the home.
According to court documents, Keen’s father, who was living in a different state, got a message from his son just before the stabbings that he was “going to jail tonight because he was going to kill some people.”
Keen’s father was the first to call 911 to report the behavior, but he didn’t know where his son was-- only that he was supposed to be staying at a clean and sober house in Tacoma or Parkland.
Keen was found by officers nearby after a short chase.
He was charged with four counts of second-degree attempted murder and one count of first-degree arson.
While three people were reported stabbed, court documents say Keen allegedly threatened and ran toward another person with a knife, which is the fourth attempted murder charge.
Keen is being held in the Pierce County Jail on $1 million bail.
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