A violent confrontation in Tacoma ended with Leonard Strickland dead and charges filed against an ex-roommate. On October 10, 2025, 49-year-old Leonard Strickland was involved in a fistfight in the 3700 block of South Orchard Street that escalated into gunfire. Strickland was taken to St. Joseph Medical Center with a gunshot wound to the head and later died; the Pierce County Medical Examiner ruled his death a homicide from multiple gunshot wounds.

Police arrested 40-year-old Nicholas Patrick Kane, an ex-roommate of Strickland, after witnesses saw a man matching his description firing near a black car and shell casings at the scene were linked to Kane’s weapon. Kane told detectives the men had agreed to fight, that Strickland assaulted him with brass knuckles and shot at him, and that he left the scene, retrieved a gun, then returned and exchanged fire. Strickland’s firearm was found on his chest with two live rounds.

Kane was initially charged with first-degree assault and drive-by shooting; after Strickland’s death the charge was elevated to first-degree murder, a not guilty plea was entered on his behalf, and bail was set at $750,000. Does anyone have information about the events that led up to the October 10 fight or witnessed the shooting?