Riverine chase after man killed, burned in remote treehouse

A shooting at a rural Pierce County treehouse left a man dead, a woman shot and their suspected assailant captured after being spotted fleeing down the Carbon River.

Pierce County Sheriff’s Office investigators believe the surviving man, 42, shot both the man and woman before burning the treehouse. According to a Sheriff’s Office statement, the suspected gunman arranged to ferry the injured woman to safety before returning to the scene of the crime.

At 3:27 a.m. Monday, Deputies were called to an Orting-area home following a report that a woman had been shot.

The woman, who had been shot in the foot, told investigators she and another man had been shot by an acquaintance at the treehouse, located on the northern side of the Carbon River opposite East Pioneer Way, according to the Sheriff’s Office statement.

The homeowner who received the injured woman said the suspected gunman arrived at his home at 3 a.m. asking for help. They crossed the river on inflatable boats, placed the woman in a wheelbarrow and wheeled her nearly 1 mile back to the crossing. The homeowner then ferried the woman to his home and called 911 as the suspected gunman returned to the treehouse.

MORE FROM SEATTLEPI: Seattle police issue $1,025 littering ticket to homeless man

Deputies “were familiar with the treehouse described by the victim as the location where the shooting occurred, due to frequent transient activity and previous … callouts for missing or stranded people who attempted to cross the river to access the treehouse,” a Sheriff’s Office spokesperson said in a statement.

According to the Sheriff’s Office statement, detectives believe the shooting may have occurred during an argument regarding missing or stolen property.

Police arrived in force around daybreak and began searching the area. The crime scene could only be accessed by boat and all responding department members had to be rafted across the river.

At 7 a.m., deputies found a pistol inside a wheelbarrow. They reached the treehouse a half-hour later, and discovered it had been burned.

Inside the burned structure, they discovered a man’s body. His remains had been burned as well. A rifle was found nearby.

Just before 8 a.m., a search and rescue deputy spotted a man wearing waders walking with a dog on the river’s edge. Deputies headed to the scene by boat, and saw the man trying to climb a brushy hill.

The man ultimately surrendered to police, sliding down the hill with his dog. He has been booked into Pierce County Jail on suspicion of first-degree murder, first-degree assault and arson. His dog has been left with a relative.

SeattlePI senior editor Levi Pulkkinen can be reached at 206-448-8348 or levipulkkinen@seattlepi.com. Follow Levi on Twitter at @levipulk. Find more from Levi here on his author page.