Investigators say the suspect fled to a casino after the shooting, while four teenage witnesses gave matching accounts of what happened in a dead-end lot.
TACOMA, Wash. — Detectives investigating the shooting of a Tacoma teenager after a water-balloon prank say witness statements, surveillance video, plate-reader information and cellphone records helped them identify a suspect now charged with attempted murder and robbery.
At the center of the case is a simple question with unusually serious stakes: how investigators turned a fast-moving, nighttime encounter into a superior court prosecution. Public reporting on the case shows police relying on a mix of direct eyewitness accounts, injury evidence, vehicle tracking and later surveillance footage. That combination matters because the alleged gunman had already left the scene by the time officers arrived, and the firearm itself had not been recovered in the reports made public.
Police were called about 9:14 p.m. on Feb. 28 to the 3200 block of South Tyler Street, where they found four teenagers in a vehicle and one of them suffering from a gunshot wound. The boys told officers they had been driving around Tacoma throwing water balloons at passing cars when one hit a silver sedan. Investigators say that sedan turned around or followed them, trailing the teens until they reached a dead-end gravel area near Mullen Street and the city dump. Once there, prosecutors say, the driver blocked the teens’ vehicle and got out armed. The witnesses’ accounts, as later described in court records and media reports, said the man moved toward the passenger side and began threatening the boys. One statement quoted in later coverage had him saying, “You think that’s funny?” after the balloon strike set off the chase.
The witness evidence appears to have been unusually important. Law&Crime reported that the probable cause affidavit described the suspect pointing the gun at all four teens, demanding their belongings and threatening to kill them. KOMO later reported that all four victims gave consistent accounts and expressed fear that the shooting was intentional, not accidental. The front-seat passenger, who investigators said was believed to have thrown the balloon, was allegedly hit in the face with the gun and then shot in the chest from less than a foot away. One detail reported from the affidavit said the victim remembered the cold muzzle touching his temple before the shot. He survived and was able to speak with investigators, giving detectives a firsthand narrative from the person most directly injured. In many violent-crime cases, that kind of immediate statement can shape the entire direction of the investigation.
But witness testimony was only one part of the file. KOMO reported detectives used surveillance footage, license plate reader data and cellphone records to identify the suspected vehicle as a silver Kia K5 and tie it to Majeed Guerry, 31. Local reports said investigators also traced his movements after the shooting and found video from a nearby casino showing a man wearing clothing that matched the descriptions given by the teens. That detail helps bridge the period after the confrontation, when the suspect had left the dead-end lot. KING reported the teens later identified Guerry in separate photo lineups. Tacoma police arrested him on March 20, according to multiple local outlets, after building a case that prosecutors deemed strong enough to file a broad range of counts.
The charges themselves show how investigators and prosecutors interpreted the evidence. Early stories said Guerry was facing assault, robbery and unlawful possession of a firearm. KOMO later reported the filing included attempted first-degree murder, first-degree assault, four counts of first-degree robbery, unlawful possession of a firearm and multiple counts of felony harassment involving threats to kill. FOX 13 said prosecutors noted they could seek attempted murder based on further investigation; later coverage showed that charge had been added. The jump from assault to attempted murder reflects the prosecution’s view of the close-range gunfire, the alleged threats before the shot and the account that the victim was deliberately targeted after being identified as the person who threw the balloon.
There are still unresolved points in the public record. The gun had not been recovered in the reports available, and the defense case had not yet been tested beyond a not-guilty plea. A probable cause affidavit and charging papers describe the government’s case, not proven facts at trial. Even so, several strands line up in the public reporting: four teens describing the same sequence, physical injury consistent with a close-range shot, a vehicle path that detectives say they reconstructed and later surveillance that prosecutors say placed the suspect after the shooting. That is why the investigation side of the story is as central as the confrontation itself. It explains how a chaotic roadside event turned into a prosecutable narrative with names, dates, counts and a custody decision.
The court response tracked the growing seriousness of that evidence package. FOX 13 reported a judge initially set bail at $150,000 even after prosecutors asked for more. KOMO later reported that the court raised bail to $300,000 at re-arraignment on March 25. Prosecutors also argued that Guerry was prohibited from possessing a firearm because of earlier felony convictions, a fact that adds both a standalone charge and a broader public-safety concern as the case moves through court. Those legal decisions do not determine guilt, but they do show how judges and prosecutors are treating the allegations at the pretrial stage.
For now, the case stands as a study in how a street shooting investigation is built from fragments left behind: frightened witnesses, location data, images from cameras, later identifications and formal charging language that turns each piece into a courtroom record. Further hearings in Pierce County Superior Court are expected to determine the next procedural steps and whether additional evidence becomes public.
Author note: Last updated April 17, 2026.