Student slain at Tacoma school; suspect captured

TACOMA - A Tacoma boy was fatally shot at Foss High School this morning and another student was arrested about an hour later in connection with the slaying.

The Pierce County medical examiner's office identified the dead boy as Samnang Kok.

According to booking records at the Pierce County jail, the shooting suspect is Douglas Chanthabouly.

Two 15-year-old sophomores, Malcolm Clark and Josh Wilber, said they witnessed the shooting and were questioned by police afterward.

Clark and Wilber said three shots were fired. The shooter was about five feet away from Kok, and didn't appear to target anyone else, the boys said.

"He got shot - bang - and he just fell," Clark said. "He just froze and he fell backwards into the lockers."

"He didn't scream or nothing. He didn't move when he hit the ground," Wilber said.

The gunman fled through nearby double doors, Clark and Wilber said.

Virtually every police officer in the city responded to the school on South 19th Street after receiving reports of shots fired. Students either ran from the building or were ushered into the gymnasium and kept there as teams of officers swept the building in search of the suspect, said Det. Chris Taylor.

Police didn't have a description of the suspect for about 10 minutes following the 7:25 a.m. shooting, Taylor said. Amid the chaos, witnesses provided officers with the suspect's name and description, which was broadcast to all patrol cars, he said. A photo of the boy also was distributed to some officers.

An officer driving in the area where the boy lives spotted him wandering in a neighborhood northeast of the school and arrested him without incident, according to Taylor. The boy had a gun when he was arrested but police haven't confirmed it is the murder weapon, said Tacoma Police spokesman Mark Fulghum.

Fulghum said Kok died at the scene. He could provide no additional details about Kok or say how many students witnessed the shooting. Detectives "still have no idea what lead up to it," but are interviewing the suspects and will try to determine a motive, he said.

"It was a hectic scene," Tacoma Police Chief Don Ramsdell said from the parking lot of a Fred Meyer store across the street from the school. "It is a tragedy — it hits home, hits the heart of students and faculty and the community as a whole. It does send shock waves to the community."

Ramsdell said the suspect was being questioned by police and would be booked later in the day.

Kelly Clymens, 15, was at his locker when students started running past him in the hallway. "It was crazy and the principal was yelling, "Get in the gym, get in the gym!" The boy who was killed died outside the school's ROTC classroom, Clymens said.

By about 8:30, police had secured the building and students were being sent home, Tacoma School District spokeswoman Pam Thompson said. Classes were canceled for the rest of the day.

Information from Seattle Times staff reporter Jonathan Martin and The Associated Press is included in this report.