Deputies ruled justified in fatal shootout with murder suspect who took woman hostage

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Graham, WA - Prosecutors in Pierce County have ruled that sheriff's deputies were justified in killing a murder suspect during a shootout in Graham last year.

In a letter to Sheriff Keith Swank, Deputy prosecuting attorney Kelly Montgomery also credited the deputies with saving the life of a woman who was taken hostage prior to the July 2024 shootout with 37-year-old Dante Cudini.

"The deputies had no reasonably effective alternative than to use deadly force because Mr. Cudini could kill the human hostage, fire upon the deputies, or run into that residence and take an additional hostage if not stopped," Montgomery wrote.

Public records released to KOMO News after the investigation concluded revealed new details about the shootout and the underlying murder investigation involving Cudini.

According to the Pierce County Sheriff's Office, Cudini was the main suspect in the killing of a woman in Spanaway.

At 4:38 a.m. on Mar. 27, 2024, deputies responded to a call of a traffic accident near 174th Street and Spanaway Loop South.

Arriving deputies found the driver, later identified as 47-year-old Teresa Latham, had been shot in the head before the collision.

At the time, police said they believed the gunshot had come from the woods near Spanaway Lake.

By July 2024, investigators had developed information that identified Cudini as the shooter.

On July 11, 2024, an officer-safety bulletin was issued to law enforcement in Pierce County for Cudini, identifying him as the suspect in Latham's murder.

The bulletin alerted officers to "use extreme caution", and noted Cudini is known to carry a pistol and had made statements about shooting police if they attempted to arrest him.

Officers were told Cudini lived in a camper trailer in Spanaway and was known to drive a burgundy Chevy Suburban.

Three days after the bulletin was issued, deputies saw Cudini leaving his property in the Suburban. Deputies gave chase, and Cudini fled at a high rate of speed through Spanaway and Graham.

Video of the pursuit shows a deputy jump out of the way of Cudini's Suburban, which prosecutors say he had aimed directly toward the deputy. That deputy fired three shots toward Cudini, who continued to flee from deputies.

After several attempts to disable the fleeing Suburban, the car came to a stop in front of a home on 70th Avenue East in Graham.

The video shows Cudini emerge from the Suburban with a gun to the woman's head and demanding that the deputies back away from him.

"Mr. Cudini kept the female between himself and the deputies as he moved toward the garage," the Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney's report states. "He kept the gun to her temple and her body and head directly in front of his body and head ... Mr. Cudini appeared angry and defiant."

Cudini took the woman into an open garage door, at which point a deputy saw an opportunity to shoot him without hitting the woman. The deputy took the shot, injuring Cudini and giving other deputies an angle to shoot at him.

"Deputies directed the female to crawl out of the garage while Mr. Cudini was rolling to face them," the report states.

Investigators said Cudini had fired at the deputies from the garage. He was pulled from the garage and pronounced deceased at the scene.

An 81-year-old woman who was inside the home at the time was taken to safety. There was no connection noted between Cudini and the house where the chase ended.