Lacey Alexander was standing near her boyfriend’s pickup truck early Monday morning when Pierce County deputies approached the vehicle where L.J. Causey Jr. was sleeping.
“I screamed, ‘What’s going on?’ and before I could finish my sentence, L.J. woke up and looked at me, and then the officers just shot through the truck, and they killed him,” Alexander said. “He was asleep, they didn’t give him a chance to wake up, to surrender, nothing.”
Causey, 32, a father of three children, was killed in a deputy-involved shooting in the South Hill area of unincorporated Pierce County near Puyallup at 2:01 a.m. Monday.
Pierce County Sheriff’s Office deputies were called to the 8500 block of 156th Street Court East after someone rang 911 and said a man in a vehicle had fired a gunshot outside their home.
When deputies arrived, they found the vehicle with a man sleeping inside.
After speaking with the victims, deputies found probable cause to arrest the man for felony harassment. Deputies approached the vehicle to speak with the man, and shortly after, called out that shots had been fired.
Deputies tried to save the man’s life before medics arrived, but he was later pronounced dead.
Multiple neighbours from several homes away reported hearing commotion and the gunshots.
“My older brother came and knocked on my door and then asked me if I heard a gunshot,” Isabela Guzman said. “I opened my window, and I heard it again multiple times.”
“I was really scared for my family and me because I want to make sure that we’re safe in this area,” Guzman added.
A photojournalist at the scene said there was a pickup truck with several bullet holes in its windows and body. No deputies were injured.
Family members on scene identified the man killed as L.J. Causey Jr.
The Pierce County Force Investigation Team is leading the investigation. A public information officer with PCFIT said three deputies were involved in the incident, but have not shared what caused them to fire their weapons, how many shots were fired, or who fired first.
“You said you tried to wake him, and seconds later, you guys killed him,” Alexander said. “You guys are wrong, they’re wrong, there are so many other ways they’re trained to go about this, and they gave him no chance.”
The circumstances of the shooting hinge on what happened in those seconds between deputies approaching the truck and shots being fired. Alexander’s account describes deputies shooting Causey as he woke up, giving him no time to comply with commands or surrender.
The sheriff’s office hasn’t explained what prompted deputies to fire. Whether Causey reached for a weapon, made threatening movements, or whether deputies perceived a threat that didn’t exist will be central to determining if the shooting was justified.
The initial 911 call reported a man had fired a gunshot outside a home. That allegation established Causey as potentially armed and dangerous before deputies arrived, shaping how they approached the situation.
Finding Causey asleep in the vehicle created a tactical dilemma. Waking someone who’s potentially armed and may have just fired a weapon presents risks, but shooting someone as they wake up raises profound questions about whether deadly force was necessary.
The multiple bullet holes in the truck’s windows and body suggest deputies fired numerous rounds. The number of shots and their pattern will be examined during the investigation to understand the sequence of events.
The fact that no deputies were injured indicates Causey either didn’t fire at officers or his shots missed. The Force Investigation Team hasn’t revealed whether Causey fired his weapon, a critical fact for understanding the encounter.
Three deputies being involved means multiple officers witnessed the shooting and will provide statements. Their accounts may corroborate each other or reveal different perspectives on what happened.
Alexander being present and close enough to see Causey wake up means she witnessed the entire encounter. Her statement that deputies shot “through the truck” killing Causey as he woke provides a civilian perspective that may differ from official accounts.
The 2:01 a.m. timing places the shooting in the middle of the night when visibility is limited and people woken suddenly may be disoriented. Those factors affect both Causey’s ability to comprehend what was happening and deputies’ ability to assess threats.
Neighbours hearing multiple gunshots from several homes away indicates significant gunfire. Guzman hearing shots, then hearing them “again multiple times” after opening her window suggests a sustained shooting rather than a single exchange.
Causey being a father of three children adds family tragedy to the incident. Three children have lost their father under circumstances that remain disputed and under investigation.
