K9 Tracks Done Parkland Shooting Suspect

PARKLAND, WA - A 23-year-old man is in custody on a murder charge after he allegedly randomly shot a man outside a hotel room along Pacific Avenue South in Parkland early Thursday morning.

Around 2 a.m. Thursday, Pierce County Sheriff's deputies investigated a call of shots fired in the vicinity of Pacific Avenue and 126th Street South. In front of a Starbucks there, they found Wilbur Salway, 46, with a critical gunshot wound.

A deputy and K9 Zepp tracked the suspect to an area near where the shooting occurred. They arrested the man hiding in a backyard, and recovered a handgun hidden in a bush. The 23-year-old suspect had just bought the gun on March 1, and the Pierce County Sheriff's Office said that the suspect had made comments about "cleaning up the neighborhood" before the shooting.

Police believe Salway heard the suspect shooting, and was shot by the suspect when he came out of his motel room - he was staying at the Blue Spruce Motel - to investigate.

The suspect is being held in jail on suspicion of first-degree murder. He is set to be arraigned on Monday.

The K9 Zepp was in the news last August when a suspect tried to suffocate him during an arrest.

Image via Pierce County Sheriff's Office