South Sound News

18 rounds fired during fatal shooting inside Lakewood mobile home. Suspected gunman charged

LAKEWOOD, Wash. — A man suspected of shooting two people inside a Lakewood mobile home Sunday fired 18 rounds, court records show.

Pierce County prosecutors on Monday charged Jovan Wade, 38, with two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of attempted second-degree murder.

He pleaded not guilty at arraignment. Superior Court Commissioner Sabrina Ahrens set bail at $5 million.

Killed in the incident was Christopher Allen, 52, who was staying at the trailer where the shooting happened. A second man was shot in the chest but is expected to survive.

>> RELATED: 1 dead, 1 shot, 1 in custody after shooting in Lakewood

Charging papers give this account:

The man who lives in the mobile home with his wife and daughter occasionally lets people stay there. Both victims were staying in the trailer.

About 9:30 a.m., the man who lives there said he was working on his vehicle.

Wade was in the daughter’s bedroom even though the daughter had left the home.

When one of the victims went inside, gunshots rang out and the man came outside and said he’d been shot. Allen went inside to find out what happened and was also shot.

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“While the neighbor checked on victim Allen, (the trailer owner) went to the bedroom door and as he was standing at the door the person in the bedroom fired more shots through the door, narrowly missing him,” according to charging papers.

He called 911, and police arrived in the 6900 block of 146th Street Southwest.

At that time, shots were still being fired, and Wade was inside the trailer with Allen’s body.

The injured man managed to escape and seek help at an apartment complex across the street.

Officers could see Wade moving around inside the mobile home and spoke with him on a cell phone.

Police noted his speech was slurred.

Although Wade allegedly admitted to being involved in a shooting, he claimed to have blacked out and couldn’t remember anything.

After a 90-minute standoff, Wade surrendered without incident and was taken to jail.

Allen was pronounced dead at the scene.

Detectives determined 18 shots had been fired, eight of which went through a closed bedroom door and the exterior wall of the trailer. Shots were also fired through a bedroom window.

A 9 mm handgun was found inside, as well as an empty magazine.

That means “the defendant had taken the time to reload his gun after the first magazine was emptied,” records show.

A motive has not been established.

The surviving victim said he’d met Wade in the past and they had no problems.

He told police a different story about what happened.

He claimed he and Allen were in the living room when they heard gunshots and went to the daughter’s bedroom. When he opened the door, Wade fired at them, striking both Allen and him in the chest.

The investigation is ongoing.

For more on this story, visit The News Tribune.