A man who brutally stabbed four people to death in an affluent waterfront community in Washington state had a history of abuse and mental health issues — including allegedly dabbling in “witchcraft” and “occult behavior,” court records show.
The crazed suspect, 32, was initially reported to have violated a no-contact order at a house near Gig Harbor Tuesday morning when police learned he had gone a stabbing spree outside the home, according to the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office.
A cop who quickly responded to the scene shot and killed the suspect, who has yet to publicly identified.
Three stabbing victims were also found dead at the scene, while a fourth died on the way to the hospital, cops said. The victims have not been identified either.
The Post saw a body with a white sheet draped over it Tuesday evening in the street outside the home, located in a picturesque tourist hotspot just 45 miles outside of Seattle. Police tape also cordoned off the scene.
Cops had initially received a report of the no-contact violation Tuesday morning, but learned the order hadn’t been served yet — and intended to bring a copy to the house where a history of unsettling concerns had been reported in recent years, court records show.
A woman who lived at the Gig Harbor address had pressed for two protection orders against her 32-year-old son since December 2020, the Seattle Times reported.
She obtained a one-year protection order against him last May, detailing several bouts of domestic violence and his battle with mental health and substance abuse.
The son had previously pushed his mother, and eerily threatened that her “grave has been already dug up,” court records said.
He had been “threatening me, abusing me both mentally and emotionally. Doing witchcraft/occult behavior and doing rituals in my home,” the woman said, according to court records.
The son was also “damaging” the mother’s “personal belongings” and “hurting” her cat, court records claimed.
“I am an elderly disabled woman and he is taking advantage of me and my health,” the woman said.
He also reportedly threatened her daughter with a knife inside the home, according to a December 2020 filing obtained by the Seattle Times.
In a petition to Pierce County Superior Court in April, the woman added that her son also saw himself as “an Egyptian god,” the Seattle Times reported.
The following month, a county court commissioner ordered the son to vacate the residence and stay away from his mother for one year, according to the outlet.
The son was a no-show at court hearing before the issuance of the restraining order, the Associated Press reported.
The order would have required him to not possess any dangerous weapons, stay 1,000 feet from his mother, her vehicle and her home — which he shared with his mother.
It also would have required the son to comply with a mental health treatment plan.
It is not immediately clear why the protection order was not served. In the state, someone who obtains a protective order can ask law enforcement or a hired private investigator to serve an individual.
In the meantime, the Pierce County Force Investigation Team is taking over the investigation, the Seattle Times reported.
With Post wires