Police: Woman called 911 after letting killer borrow phone
Police located the suspect in the random killing of three people at a convenience store in Yakima, Washington, after he borrowed a stranger’s cellphone to call his mother and confess to what he had done, authorities said Tuesday.
The suspect shot and killed himself behind some warehouses as officers approached, said Yakima Police Chief Matt Murray. No officers used force and none was injured, he added.
Police had surrounded Jarid Haddock’s family home after Tuesday’s pre-dawn killings, but he wasn’t there, Murray said at a news conference. Instead, the 21-year-old had gone to the area of a Target store in the city, where he borrowed a woman’s phone and called his mother.
The woman overheard the conversation, which included incriminating statements such as “I killed those people,” as well as the man’s threats to kill himself, according to Murray. The woman then managed to get her phone back, separated herself from Haddock and called 911 to report his whereabouts, Murray said.
“I listened to that call — it’s pretty harrowing,” Murray said. “I have to really thank her again because she was very courageous in getting us there.”
Murray said investigators still had no idea what prompted the shootings. Haddock entered the Circle K convenience store a little before 3:30 a.m. Tuesday and shot and killed two people who were there getting food, then stepped outside and shot someone else in a car.
“There was no apparent conflict between the parties,” Murray said, citing witness statements as well as surveillance footage. “The male just walked in and started shooting.”
He then walked across the street to another gas station and began shooting into his own car to get inside, because he had locked himself out, Murray said.