Man threatened to kill 2 people in a canoe on Chambers Lake, Olympia police say

A 61-year-old Lacey man was arrested Sunday night for threatening to kill two people in a canoe on Chambers Lake, according to Olympia police.

Chambers Lake is in both Olympia and Lacey. It is south of 18th Avenue in Olympia and north of 37th Avenue in Lacey.

Olympia police made the arrest and Lacey police assisted in the investigation, Lt. Paul Lower said Tuesday.

About 9:30 p.m. Sunday, police were dispatched to the 3100 block of the Chehalis Western Trail, an area that borders the lake, he said.

A man and woman at the scene explained they had been canoeing in the lake and were wearing headlamps to see where they were going. While on the lake, they heard a voice from the shore allegedly say the “lights were too bright,” and later, “somebody is going to kill you,” or “you’re going to be killed.”

Concerned, the 60-year-old man and the 48-year-old woman paddled back to shore. She got out and walked up to the trail, while the man worked on getting the canoe out of the water, according to police.

Suddenly, the man couldn’t hear his partner, Lower said. He went to look for her and found the suspect holding her while pointing a handgun at him.

The suspect made a reference to the light being “too bright on the water” and “you’ll be sorry for that.” He then fired his gun into the air, pushed the woman away and walked off.

A spent bullet shell casing was found at the scene, Lower said.

Lacey police later spotted the man’s vehicle and were able to take down a license plate. A police dog also tracked the man and stopped at a residence on Westlake Drive. The license plate showed the same address, Lower said.

The two victims also identified the man. Police later obtained a search warrant and removed multiple firearms and boxes of ammunition from the home, Lower said.

The 61-year-old man was booked on suspicion of first-degree assault while armed with a deadly weapon and felony harassment/threat to kill while armed with a firearm.