In the early morning hours of August 25, 2021, a violent rampage shattered the peace of a Finley neighborhood, leaving 77-year-old White male, Emil Robert Zlatich II, dead. The tragic events began to unfold just before 4 a.m. when a 911 call was made from the Zlatich residence on East Finley Road. The caller reported that his father had been shot and that both their home and a neighbor's house were on fire.
When Benton County sheriff's deputies arrived at the scene, they found Zlatich's
son in the backyard with a gunshot wound. Firefighters who responded to the blaze discovered Emil Zlatich's body inside his burning home. He had been shot and killed. Zlatich, known to many as "Bob," was a lifelong Kennewick resident and the retired owner of Zip's by the Cable Bridge.
The suspect in this violent outburst was identified as Ryan Kaufman, Zlatich's 43-year-old neighbor. Kaufman's deadly spree did not end with the attack on the Zlatich family. After setting fire to his own home and the Zlatich's, he went on to kill his parents, Daniel and Vicki Kaufman, at their Kennewick residence, where he also attempted to set a fire.
Kaufman, a union electrician, also set fires at two union buildings before his rampage came to a fiery end. Following a police chase, his truck caught fire in a West Richland parking lot. Kaufman exchanged gunfire with four officers before he was found dead inside his burned-out vehicle. Investigators have been working to determine the motive behind Kaufman's violent actions.
