Records described by local media say the suspect threatened to kill the teens, demanded money and then fired at close range after a water balloon hit his car.
TACOMA, Wash. — Prosecutors say the most revealing part of the Tacoma water-balloon shooting case may be what the suspect allegedly said before the gun went off: repeated threats to kill the four teenagers he had chased into a dead-end lot.
Those statements are central because they tie together several parts of the prosecution’s theory at once. They help explain the felony-harassment counts, support the robbery allegations by showing intimidation and form part of the argument that the shooting was deliberate enough to justify an attempted murder charge. In public reporting based on affidavits and charging papers, the language attributed to the suspect turns the case from a sudden roadside argument into a record of escalating threats, physical violence and finally gunfire.
According to Law&Crime and local Seattle-area stations, the incident grew out of a teenage prank on Feb. 28. Four boys were driving through Tacoma throwing water balloons at cars when one balloon struck a silver sedan and water came through an open window, soaking the driver. Investigators say the driver, later identified as 31-year-old Majeed Guerry, followed the teens to a dead-end gravel lot in the 3200 block of South Tyler Street near Mullen Street and the Tacoma dump. Once he blocked their vehicle, prosecutors say, he walked up with a handgun and began cursing at them over the water. One of the remarks quoted in coverage was, “You think that’s funny?” Others reported from the affidavit were more explicit, including threats that the boys could be killed for what they had done.
The threat language did not stand apart from the rest of the confrontation; prosecutors say it was woven through every stage of it. Witnesses told police the suspect pointed the weapon at all four teens and demanded their belongings. Law&Crime reported the affidavit said he told the boys he should kill them and ordered them to hand over everything they had. Investigators said one boy first offered $1, which the suspect threw back, then handed over about $100. At the same time, the front-seat passenger was allegedly being singled out for abuse. Reports say Guerry struck that teen in the face with the pistol, grabbed at him and pressed the weapon against his body. KOMO reported the shot came from less than a foot away and struck the teen in the chest before exiting through his armpit. The victim survived, but investigators said the wound narrowly missed being fatal.
Seen that way, the robbery count is not a side detail but a major part of the story’s structure. The public record described by reporters suggests the case is built on three linked accusations: the suspect threatened the boys, took money from them and then shot one of them. That sequence matters because it gives prosecutors several routes to argue intent and danger. It also changes how the event reads in human terms. This was not, in the charging narrative, a driver stopping to confront teens after being splashed. It was an encounter that prosecutors say became a gunpoint shakedown in which the words used were themselves part of the crime. That may be why the alleged statements have featured so prominently in nearly every report on the case.
The legal consequences followed that reading of the facts. Local coverage said Guerry is charged with attempted first-degree murder, first-degree assault, four counts of first-degree robbery, unlawful possession of a firearm and multiple counts of felony harassment involving threats to kill. FOX 13 reported he pleaded not guilty. The same coverage said prosecutors argued he was prohibited from possessing a gun because of prior felony convictions and asked the court to treat him as a danger to the community. Bail was first reported at $150,000, then later raised to $300,000 at re-arraignment on March 25, according to KOMO. That increase suggests the court was responding not just to the injury, but to the breadth of the alleged conduct.
The investigation added its own support to the witness accounts. KOMO reported detectives used surveillance video, license plate reader data and cellphone records to link a silver Kia K5 to the scene and to Guerry. Video from a nearby casino later showed a man matching the clothing description given by the teens, according to court records cited by the station. KING reported all four victims later picked Guerry out of separate photo montages. Police arrested him on March 20. The firearm had not been recovered in the reports available, leaving one unresolved piece of evidence, but prosecutors appear to believe the witness statements and electronic trail are enough to sustain the charges while the case moves forward.
The story also carries a sharp contrast that makes it memorable: childish conduct on one side, adult lethal force on the other. The teens’ actions may have been reckless and immature, but the records described publicly say the response was something else entirely — a pursuit, a barricade-like stop, threats, a robbery and a point-blank shooting. That contrast is part of why the case has drawn attention well beyond Tacoma. It is less a prank story than a threat story, one in which the language of violence allegedly came first and the shooting followed through on it.
As the case proceeds in Pierce County Superior Court, the next major questions are whether additional evidence will surface, whether the missing gun is recovered and how prosecutors present the intent element behind the attempted murder charge. For now, the public case file portrays a confrontation in which words, money and gunfire are inseparable parts of the same alleged crime.
Author note: Last updated April 17, 2026.