TACOMA (AP) — Authorities say an armed man who threw incendiary devices at an immigration detention center in Tacoma died of multiple gunshot wounds after four police officers opened fire.
The Pierce County medical examiner’s office said Monday that Willem Van Spronsen, 69, of Vashon Island was killed Saturday morning outside the privately-run Tacoma Northwest Detention Center.
The shooting happened hours after a protest outside the facility, which is used by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to hold migrants pending deportation proceedings. The detention center has also held immigration-seeking parents separated from their children under the President’s “zero tolerance” policy, an effort meant to deter illegal immigration.