On the evening of January 29, 2024, a 20-year-old Black / African American male named Robert D. Anderson was found dead in Shoreline, Washington. His life was cut short by a gunshot wound to the head in what prosecutors have described as an act of vigilantism.
The events of that tragic day began to unfold around 6:19 p.m. when a woman called the King County Sheriff's Office to report that her boyfriend of several months, Robert D. Anderson, had choked and assaulted her.
By the time deputies arrived at the apartment, Anderson had already left the scene. As law enforcement spoke with the woman, her family, including her angered 17-year-old brother, began to arrive. Witnesses reported hearing the brother ask, "Where he at, where he at," while slamming his hand into a refrigerator. His mother was reportedly overheard on the phone saying, "I told him not to do anything stupid and let the police handle it."
While deputies searched for Anderson, they encountered the woman's brother driving her black Jeep Cherokee. He claimed to be looking for Anderson, but the deputies advised him against it and suggested he should be with his sister at the hospital. Approximately two hours later, a report came in of a person down in the street with blood near their head at the Quinn Apartments on 15th Avenue Northeast. Officers responded to the scene and found Anderson's body, identifying the cause of death as a gunshot wound.
Security camera footage from the area proved to be a critical piece of evidence in the investigation. The video showed Anderson standing on a sidewalk as a black Jeep Cherokee entered the frame. Muzzle flashes could be seen coming from the driver's window, and Anderson was seen collapsing to the ground. The suspect's mother later turned a gun over to the police, which was preliminarily identified as the weapon used in the shooting. The 17-year-old brother was subsequently arrested and charged with murder. Prosecutors requested a $2 million bail and GPS monitoring if he were to be released.
