In the early morning hours of May 17, 2025, the life of 18-year-old Hispanic male, Anthony Raul Arellano, was tragically cut short in Federal Way, Washington. The fatal incident unfolded around 1:22 a.m. at the Sunset Three Twenty Apartments, located in the 32100 block of 18th Avenue Southwest. Responding to reports of a shooting, police officers discovered the young man with a gunshot wound.
Despite immediate life-saving efforts by the officers and subsequently by medics, Arellano succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene. The King County Medical Examiner's Office would later confirm his cause of death as multiple gunshot wounds, ruling it a homicide.
The investigation into the shooting revealed that it stemmed from a domestic violence situation involving Arellano and an ex-girlfriend. An altercation between the two escalated dramatically, culminating in the deadly gunfire. The person responsible for the shooting fled the apartment complex in a vehicle before law enforcement arrived. Police have indicated that the suspect and Arellano were known to each other, and they do not believe there is a wider threat to the public.
The violence of that night extended beyond the intended victim, as a stray bullet penetrated a nearby apartment unit, striking a sleeping 11-year-old child. The child was quickly transported to Harborview Medical Center and was reported to be in stable condition. The sound of gunfire and the subsequent discovery of bullet holes in the building walls left residents of the apartment complex shaken. As of the initial reports following the incident, no arrests had been made. Detectives with the Federal Way Police Department are actively investigating the homicide and are asking for anyone with information to come forward as they continue to piece together the events that led to the fatal encounter.
