On January 11, 2016, around 3 a.m., 18-year-old Dylan Oman was killed in a burst of gunfire in the parking lot of an apartment complex at Brown’s Point Boulevard and 38th Avenue Northeast in Tacoma, Washington. Investigators described the incident as a gun battle after an apparent argument; shell casings were scattered at the scene and a small SUV had multiple bullet holes.

Friends of the former Stadium High School student say Oman was a bystander who had gone with them to help a friend and that a gunman opened fire as they approached a car. They say Oman was struck by bullets intended for others and that one friend, who was legally armed, fired at the departing vehicle. Law enforcement questioned several people in the days after the shooting but made no immediate arrest.

Investigators later identified 19-year-old Jeffrey McLaren as the shooter, but the Pierce County prosecutor’s office concluded McLaren acted in self-defense and did not charge him; officials said evidence indicated Oman had attempted to shoot McLaren in what was described as an ambush-style attack and that McLaren fired first. Five weeks after the Tacoma shooting, McLaren was found shot to death in Federal Way; authorities later said they believed his killing was connected to other unsolved homicides in May 2016.

Did anyone who knew Dylan or witnessed the January 11 parking lot confrontation see details that could clarify what happened that night?