By Gene Johnson -
The Associated Press
Police located a suspect in the random slaying of three people at a Yakima, Washington, convenience store after he borrowed an unknown man's cell phone to call his mother and confess to what he had done, authorities said Tuesday.
The suspect shot and killed himself behind a warehouse as officers closed in, Yakima Police Chief Matt Murray reported.
No officer used force, he added.
Police had surrounded Jarid Haddock's family home after the killings before dawn Tuesday, but he was no longer there, Murray told a news conference.
In his place, the 21-year-old had gone to a Target area of the city, where he borrowed a woman's phone and called his mother.
Yakima Police Chief Matt Murray during a briefing at the scene of a shooting early Tuesday morning. Yakima Police Department / via Facebook
The woman overheard the conversation, which included incriminating statements such as
"I killed those people"
as well as threats to commit suicide, according to Murray.
The woman then managed to retrieve her phone, separated from Haddock and called 911 to report her whereabouts, Murray said.
“I heard that call.
It's pretty heartbreaking," Murray added.
"I have to thank her again because she was so brave to get us there."
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Murray claimed that investigators still had no idea what triggered the shots.
Haddock entered the Circle K store a little before 3:30 a.m. Tuesday and shot and killed two people who were there shopping for food, then went outside and shot another person in a car.
"There was no apparent conflict between the parties," Murray said, citing witness statements as well as surveillance footage.
"The man just walked in and started shooting."
He then walked across the street to another gas station and began shooting at his own car to get in, because he had locked himself out, Murray said.
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Police did not immediately provide any information about the victims.
The attack is another outbreak of violence in the first weeks of 2023, as the United States suffers a wave of mass murder that has claimed dozens of lives.
Following the killings, police released a surveillance image of the man and warned the community to be vigilant.
Law enforcement concentrated on his parents' home, located across a highway from a warehouse on the outskirts of the city of nearly 100,000, about 140 miles (225 kilometers) southeast of Seattle.
It was listed in court records as Haddock's known address.
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Haddock appeared to have little criminal history.
He was arrested in March 2020 after police saw him in a car that had been stolen from a woman who had left it running;
he fled from the arresting officers, according to charging documents filed in Yakima County Superior Court, and claimed to be homeless.
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He successfully completed an intervention program, despite twice violating its terms by using methamphetamine or heroin, and the charges were dismissed in December 2021.
At Yakima Riverside Storage, across the street from the house surrounded by police, receptionist Tabitha Johnson said she was taking the unusual precaution of locking the doors, which she can keep an eye on through the windows and security cameras.
“It's pretty scary, but Yakima isn't new to shooting,” the 39-year-old says.