Woman killed in West Seattle pulled out shotgun while being served documents
Oct 2, 2024, 6:53 PM | Updated: Oct 3, 2024, 7:13 am
(Image courtesy of KIRO 7)
There is new information about Tuesday afternoon’s fatal West Seattle shooting of Tamara Towers Parry, 57.
The Seattle Police Department (SPD) said the shooting happened just after 1 p.m. Two people arrived at Parry’s home to serve documents. Police said she walked out of her home armed with a shotgun and one of the servers, a 40-year-old man, pulled his gun and shot Parry twice in the torso. She died at the scene.
“I just heard two really, really loud gunshots,” neighbor Ellen Macom told KIRO Newsradio. “It sounded very close. I thought, I hoped it was construction noise in the neighborhood, but I did kind of wonder if it was a gunshot.”
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Police arrived a few minutes later and found Parry unresponsive. She died at the scene.
“It’s very tragic and I just wish the owner of the home could have gotten some help,” neighbor Ruth Shapiro told KIRO Newsradio. “It sounds like she really needed it. It’s very sad.”
Parry was well known in her neighborhood, or a lot of people knew of her.
She was a University of Washington Medical School graduate. She was also a member of the QAnon community. As The Associated Press explained in 2020, QAnon “centers on the baseless belief that Trump is waging a secret campaign against enemies in the ‘deep state’ and a child sex trafficking ring run by satanic pedophiles and cannibals.”
Parry had a QAnon sign in her front window and a huge American flag hanging over the garage. She was also an election denier and was at the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
“We definitely shared different political views, I will say that, and she had very strong positions, but it was always amicable,” next-door neighbor Joel Beherendt told KIRO Newsradio. “She was always very friendly, always very kind. I don’t have any reason to believe what transpired has anything to do with that.”
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Shapiro said she believes Parry was a victim.
“I feel that she’s a victim, too,” she said. “I feel she’s a victim of ideology and I blame people who know better and encourage other people to take those positions.”
Police said the two servers are cooperating with the investigation, all guns have been recovered and no arrests have been made.
James Lynch is a reporter at KIRO Newsradio. You can read more of James’ stories here. Follow James on X, or email him here.