On the evening of August 14, 2008, 26-year-old Hispanic man Omero Garcia Mendez was at the Lakota Middle School campus in Federal Way to pick up his girlfriend’s son when he was confronted by three people in an SUV. One of the occupants, 16-year-old Luis F. Cosgaya-Alvarez, reportedly flashed gang signs at Mendez and then shot him once in the head. Mendez later died of the wound.

Authorities investigated and located Luis F. Cosgaya-Alvarez in Seattle a few days later; he was arrested and charged in connection with the shooting. The case centers on a brief, apparently gang‑related confrontation that ended in a fatal shooting.

Did anyone in the Federal Way area see the SUV or the confrontation that evening?