Community Police & Fire

Man who shot Safeway shopper convicted of assault

The Gig Harbor man who shot a shopper who was leaving the Point Fosdick Drive Safeway store with groceries last year has been convicted of first-degree assault.

A Pierce County Superior Court jury found Patrick Michael Lathrop guilty of the charge on Thursday, March 22. The jury determined he was not guilty of unlawful imprisonment.

Lathrop is being held on $100,000 bail while awaiting sentencing on May 12, according to court documents.

Wrongly believed victim was a shoplifter

Lathrop, now 71, told police that he believed the victim in the April 30, 2022, incident was shoplifting. He had asked the victim to return to the cashier and show his receipt. Instead, Lathrop said, the victim began hitting him. So he pulled his gun and shot him.

Officers arrested Lathrop that Saturday night and booked him into Pierce County Jail. He was released on bail the next night and later charged with first-degree assault.

According to court documents, Gig Harbor Police officers were dispatched to Safeway at about 11:40 p.m. on April 30 because a man had been shot in the neck and was in the store. When they arrived, Lathrop approached and said he was the shooter. He surrendered and officers took a 9mm Glock handgun from him.

Officers found the victim, alert and responsive, holding paper towels against his throat to control the bleeding. He said he and his wife had just bought groceries and were leaving when Lathrop blocked them with his body and a shopping cart.

Lathrop accused them of shoplifting and asked them to show their receipt to store employees.
The victim and his wife said they weren’t stealing and wanted to leave. A fight ensued — a witness told police the victim was “clearly winning” — and Lathrop pulled out his gun and shot the victim in the neck, the victim said.

Overheard and misunderstood conversation

A store manager and an employee told police that they had been talking about a shoplifter who had been in the store but left before the shooting. Lathrop, a regular customer, might have overheard and misunderstood the conversation. The officer concluded that Lathrop tried to stop the shoplifter but got the wrong person.

The victim was treated at the hospital for a superficial gunshot wound.

Lathrop told officers he was a “night drinker” and most cashiers know him through his nightly alcohol purchases. While talking to the cashier he learned that the store had been the victim of a recent theft, but the cashier didn’t identify any suspects.

Lathrop said as he was leaving he saw the victim and his wife “loitering” near the door and he “politely educated” them about the recent shoplifting incident. He said he “politely requested” that they return to the cashier and confirm they had paid for their groceries.

Lathrop said that without provocation, the victim hit him several times as the fight spilled into the parking lot. He said he pulled his gun and shot him once because he thought the victim was “beating him to death.”

Lathrop refused medical attention and suffered only marks, bumps and bruises, according to the in-custody report.

Similar previous incident

Lathrop had been involved in a similar incident in April 2021. While returning from a pizza delivery in Tacoma, he heard commotion and went to investigate.

He saw several people outside telling a man to leave, so he told him to go, according to court documents. The man taunted him, shoved him and wanted to fight him, so Lathrop drew his gun and warned him not to come near or he would use it.

After the other man instead raised his fists, Lathrop concluded that his only defense was to shoot him. The man reportedly was shot in the chest and was treated at the hospital, but declined to cooperate with police.