Following an officer-involved shooting in Federal Way on Wednesday, the King County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team arrested a 28-year-old man for allegedly killing a 16-year-old Des Moines boy whose body was found last month in the Green River near Auburn.
Juan and Maria Carlos Con, the parents of Juan Carlos Con Guzman — who the King County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled died of multiple blunt-and-sharp-force injuries —were on scene following the arrest. Con Guzman’s mother was crying as she called family members to tell them of the arrest, and the father thanked police and the media for their help during the investigation.
A King County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team went to Federal Way to arrest the suspect and found him in the WinCo parking lot. When officers set off flash-bang grenades, the man ran down a hill in the 100 block of SW Campus Drive, said Sheriff’s Office spokesman Ryan Abbott during a press conference at the arrest site.
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An officer fired one shot at the suspect after the man went down on his knees and tried to draw his handgun, Abbott said. No one was injured. Detectives apprehended the man following the shooting.
The man is the second suspect in custody for allegedly killing Guzman. On Tuesday, Sheriff’s Office detectives arrested a 20-year-old Federal Way man who is also suspected of killing the teen. Police have not yet established any relationship between the two suspects and Guzman, but more details are expected to be released when the two men are charged with the killing.
Police found both men through investigative work. The Sheriff’s Office has been in contact with Con Guzman’s parents throughout the investigation, and called them on Tuesday night to notify them about their arrest of the first suspect.
Guzman had just started his junior year at Mount Rainier High School in Des Moines.
According to Abbott, two fishermen were walking along the bank of the river the morning of Sept. 10 in the 12700 block southeast of Green Valley Road when they saw a body in the water and called 911. The King County Sheriff’s Office Marine Unit recovered the body later that afternoon.
Abbott said Guzman’s family had filed a missing person report before he was found in the river, though the Sheriff’s Office has not released information as to when that happened or how long he had been in the water.
Both suspects are in custody at the King County jail. Charges are pending.
The Sheriff’s Office sent out a news release earlier this week looking for the public’s help to solve the killing of the Des Moines teen.
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