A man who confronted two intruders in the middle of the night was shot to death on his screened-in porch outside this town southeast of Tacoma, Pierce County sheriff's deputies said.
Man Killed After Interrupting Car Prowl
Robert Frederick, 38, heard a noise about 2 a.m. Thursday, grabbed a pool cue and went out the door to find two men, one of whom shot him with an assault rifle, Lt. Dave Hall said.
His girlfriend, Isabelle Gotcher, and three children were in the house, a duplex surrounded by mobile homes where Frederick's close friends live at the end of a long gravel driveway.
Frederick, unemployed and receiving disability payments, managed to tell Gotcher what had happened before he died, investigators said.
Sheriff's dogs tracked the assailants a short distance, then lost the trail, apparently at the point where the pair got into a car and fled, investigators said.
Frederick had been renting the duplex for about two years, neighbors said.
Neighbors Julie Bakko and her son Jirad, 19, said they were awakened by a gunshot and a few minutes later Frederick's son, Josh, 8, banged on their door and screamed, "Someone shot my daddy. Someone shot my daddy."
Deputies said the identity and motive of the assailants was a mystery. Jirad Bakko said he thought they were burglars. Deputies initially said it appeared to be a car prowl, then discounted that idea.
"It's just senseless," Julie Bakko said. "You live way out here, and you just think you're safe."
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