A fatal encounter stemming from a traffic-related disturbance tragically ended the life of Shawn Jemtegaard, a 42-year-old White man, on the evening of April 22, 2023, in Lacey, Washington. The incident unfolded in a parking lot in the 2500 block of Marvin Road Northeast in the Hawks Prairie area, where police were dispatched shortly before 6:12 p.m. following reports of a dispute and a man with a gunshot wound.
Jemtegaard, a Lacey resident, was found at the scene with a dime-sized gunshot wound to his torso. Witnesses were present, with one person applying pressure to his wound as he sat hunched over.
Tragically, one of Jemtegaard's six children, his 13-year-old son, was in the passenger seat of his father's vehicle and witnessed the incident. Medics arrived and transported Jemtegaard to a local hospital for emergency surgery, but his injuries proved to be "unrepairable," and he was pronounced dead. An autopsy was scheduled to officially determine the cause of death. In the aftermath, the community rallied around Jemtegaard's family, who described him as the sole provider, allowing his wife of over 20 years to raise their children. He was also remembered as a dedicated youth football coach.
Lacey police arrested a suspect at the scene, identified as 48-year-old Aaron Patrick Costello, a pizza delivery driver. Accounts from the scene suggest the shooting was preceded by a verbal and physical altercation between the two men. One witness reported hearing the dispute escalate before a "pop sound" and Jemtegaard exclaiming, "Oh my god, you just shot me." Costello's manager told police that Jemtegaard had chased Costello in his vehicle and assaulted him prior to the shooting. Another witness overheard Costello telling his manager that he had cut off Jemtegaard in traffic, who then followed him, and that Jemtegaard had pushed him.
After the shooting, Costello waited by his manager's vehicle and informed the arriving officer about the firearm, a. 380 pistol, located on the floorboard of the vehicle. He claimed to have acted in self-defense and complained of chest pain from being pushed. Costello was taken into custody and booked on suspicion of second-degree murder. He later appeared in Thurston County Superior Court where his bail was set at $500,000, with the judge noting the extreme nature of the allegation despite Costello's lack of a significant prior criminal history. During the hearing, Jemtegaard's wife spoke about the terror of Costello being released, emphasizing that she was now a single mother to their six children.
