'Kind, loving' teacher killed by college co-worker
Witnesses said the teacher was shot during a confrontation in the school parking lot at 1202 S. 76th Street about 7:30 a.m., which was before students arrived for the day.
The victim's father, who arrived at the school after the shooting, identified her as 30-year-old Jennifer Paulson.
"We want you to know she was a very kind, merciful loving person," Ken Paulson said. "That's probably why she was a special-ed teacher because she loved so much.
"What happened today was evil. And it was a terrible thing."
Police spokesman Mark Fulghum said Jennifer Paulson had recently gone to court to get an anti-harassment order against the suspect, who Ken Paulson identified as Jed Waits from Ellensburg.
It "sounds like he had infatuation with her," Fulghum said.
Police earlier said the suspect made bail Monday after being arrested Friday for violating the order she obtained in September 2009.
Court records showed the anti-harassment order was valid through September 2010.
The gunman recently made bail after violating the order. The two had apparently known each other since college, when they worked together at a cafeteria at Seattle Pacific University, but never dated.
Ken Paulson said his daughter hadn't heard from Waits for years after she graduated, and then he called her parents' house looking for her.
"Somehow he found out where she worked and would show up here from time to time," Ken Paulson said, referring to the school. "She finally got a restraining order." (Watch the full interview with Ken Paulson)
Waits left her alone for more than a year, but followed Jennifer's car as she left work last Friday, Ken Paulson said.
He said his daughter called 911 and she drove to a police station, where Waits was arrested for violating the anti-harassment order.
Waits posted bail and was released on Monday, Ken Paulson said. His daughter learned Waits was out and was too scared to stay at her home that night.
Washington Army National Guard spokesman Keith Kosik says Waits received a less-than-honorable discharge from the service in April, 2009. Waits was not a member in good standing much of the time, including when he was serving with his unit in Kuwait, Kosik said. Waits was formally disciplined more than once, which ultimately resulted in Waits' discharge.
Fulghum said the shooter was waiting for the Paulson on Friday when she arrived at 7:35 a.m. and shot her a number of times with a semi-automatic weapon as she was trying to enter Birney Elementary.
Omar Moreno, 22, who lives across the street from the school, said he heard three gunshots.
"I heard a teacher screaming at the top of her lungs - just screaming," he said. "I looked out my window and I saw the guy. He started running down the middle of the street and got in his car."
Moreno said the man, who was wearing a white snow cap and white gloves, drove off in a tan car. Soon after, Moreno said, a custodian barreled out of the school screaming for someone to call the police.
Moreno said he rushed over to the school, where he saw the victim laying on the ground, bleeding from the mouth. It was clear to him she had died, he said.
The gunman drove off, but Pierce County Sheriff's deputies tracked him down at 166th and Canyon Road East in Frederickson where he was shot and killed in a parking lot, sheriff spokesman Ed Troyer said.
"We knew we were pulling somebody over that had just been involved in a shooting, so our guys were real careful, but he still came out with a handgun, fired off a round. Our guys fired rounds back, the suspect is deceased," Troyer said.
"He is the person who is responsible for the shooting in Tacoma." (Watch the full interview with Troyer)
No one else was injured in the shooting.
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A nearby daycare was evacuated after the shooting, as the suspected gunman's body was in the parking lot.
"The kids are all okay. We're just getting them out of here because we'll be working a crime scene right next door all day and it's probably not a good place for kids to be," Troyer said.
"We're moving the kids out the back so they don't have to see what happened."
Jennifer Paulson worked in the language resource center at Birney Elementary School helping students one-on-one with reading problems. She had been with the district for six years and previously worked at Hunt Middle School and Stanley Elementary.
Voelpel said there were other staff members at the school when the shooting happened, but most employees had not yet arrived.
"We're gathering our staff together in a location off the school campus so that we can help them deal with this tragic situation," Voelpel said.
Near the shooting scene at the school, Jennifer Paulson's friends and family continued to gather and console each other.
Her stepmother, Cindy Paulson, said Jennifer was devoted to her family and teaching.
"She had a tender heart and would go out of her way with both time and energy, spending long hours at school... to help the students in this community," Cindy said. "She poured out her life for this community. She poured out her life for her family. She poured out her life for her lord.
"We love her. She will be missed tremendously." (Watch Cindy's complete interview)
Waits saw himself as 'lone wanderer'
Jed Waits had problems in the military. He had a prior arrest for assault. And at least in his graphic novels, he saw himself as something of a "lone wanderer."
In 2008, Waits, then a manager of an apartment in Ellensburg, was charged with fourth-degree assault for beating up a tenant's boyfriend.
According to police documents, Waits accused the man of living with his girlfriend in her apartment and demanded rent. The victim later told police he tried to tell Waits that he didn't live there, but Waits wouldn't hear it.
Waits told detectives he "grabbed the victim's shirt, tore it off and hit him with it," police documents said. He added he "kicked him between the legs."
The victim said he didn't "understand why he (Waits) wanted to fight" and that Waits "assaulted him without warning," according to the documents.
Later that day, the victims' girlfriend filed for an anti-harassment order, acknowledging the assault. However, she never followed through with the court hearing.
Waits opted for a deferred prosecution in this case, and was placed on probation on 12 months. He was ordered to see a veteran's readjustment counselor, but failed to follow through, according to court documents.
He was ultimately given a new probation agreements.
Waits produced two graphic novels online. In one work titled A Captain's Tale, Waits calls himself an "only child born into a desolate wilderness."
Perhaps trying to belong, Waits joined the Washington National Guard, but received a less-than-honorable discharge last year.
According to the National Guard, Waits "was not a member in good standing," including the time he was deployed in Kuwait, and that he was "formally disciplined more than once."
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
