Investigators with the Renton Police Department now believe the daughter of a man fatally shot on Oct. 28 did not fire her gun, contradicting an earlier report from the police department.
On Oct. 28, shortly after 3 a.m., officers responded to a shooting in the 100 block of Logan Avenue South, where 56-year-old James Tatum had been fatally shot.
On Nov. 2, Renton police released a video of the shooting, which Renton police said contradicted what the family said happened.
The family of James Tatum told us, unprovoked, that two men shot and killed him in the parking lot of a Chase bank.
“I got out of the car, and walked up to them,” said Donald Tatum, “and I just asked, ‘Do you have my keys? would you please give me my keys back?’”
Eighteen-year-old Tatum is describing the moment early Saturday morning when he approached two men in the parking lot at Chase Bank. He believed the two men had stolen his car keys while he was inside the Musicians Hall next door.
At the time, Renton police spokesperson Meeghan Black said, “Off camera, a shot is fired. At that point, the 18-year-old runs away. The sister or daughter of the man comes in and fires her weapon. It’s all on the videotape.”
It is hard to tell exactly who is firing the weapon. But 23-year-old Michelle Tatum insists she never fired her weapon at all.
“They retrieved the gun that I ended up getting out of the car with to go see about my Dad,” she said.
She was asked if she had taken the gun with her before he was shot.
“After,” Michelle Tatum said. “I wasn’t going back without having anything.’
She was asked if she had a concealed weapons permit.
“Yes, I do,” she said.
On Tuesday, Renton police released an update saying that based upon witness statements and evidence collected at the scene, detectives believe the daughter did not discharge her weapon during the altercation.
— Renton Police Dept. (@RentonpdWA) November 14, 2023
©2023 Cox Media Group
