UPDATE | Video shows Richland suspect hit 2 police cars in dramatic escape

The man wanted in connection with last week’s fatal shooting in Richland is still on the run after ramming two police cars in his escape from officers Wednesday night.

Police have been looking for Michael T. Reep, 28, since shortly after a man was found dead and two others were wounded by gunfire last week at a McMurray Avenue home where he was living.

While witnesses claim Reep’s girlfriend, Lara Maria Garcia, 27, shot and wounded two people, it’s unclear if Reep also opened fire.

He was seen holding a gun after Jarrod Yockey, 51, was shot and killed, according to court documents.

Prosecutors charged Reep on Wednesday with illegally possessing a firearm, and a $500,000 nationwide warrant was issued.

Reep has previous convictions that prevent him from legally owning a gun.

On Wednesday evening, Richland police tracked him to a home on the 1600 block of Venus Circle. They surrounded the home and asked for help from the Tri-City Regional SWAT team, according to emergency broadcast reports.

Police had surrounded the home, blocked the driveway and set up a spike strips in hopes of preventing his escape.

As they were preparing to move in for the arrest, officers spotted Reep get into a car and speed out of the driveway. Along the way, he crashed into two police cars, according to a Richland police Facebook post.

While police consider Reep armed and dangerous, he has not been charged with murder or assault.

“(Since) the incident tonight was not a violent felony, we were unable to pursue him to try and apprehend him,” Richland police explained in the post.

The Washington State Legislature is looking at making a change in the police pursuit laws that would allow officers to chase people when they have reasonable suspicion that they committed a crime — not just a violent crime.

Last year, a series of laws placed tighter limits on chasing suspects in the wake of protests because of the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.

Deadly Richland shooting

On Jan. 26, Yockey, Dustin P. Nelson, 37, and a 25-year-old woman went to a house at 1939 McMurray Ave. to collect items that had been stolen from the woman, according to court documents.

When they arrived, they talked to Reep through an window and then went into an open garage.

After coming into the house, Yockey got into a fistfight with the homeowner’s son, and sometime during the fight, he was shot in the chest, according to court records. Police have said the homeowner’s son is not a suspect in the shooting.

But he later said he saw Reep holding a gun shortly after that.

One of the shooting victims reported seeing Garcia loading a gun. Then she allegedly opened fire, grazing Nelson’s arm. He was shot again in the side of the chest while trying to get outside, according to court documents.

Police believe Garcia also shot the 25-year-old woman.

Nelson and the 25-year-old woman ran toward the street and flagged down a passersby, who called police. They were rushed to a hospital, and Yockey died at the house, said police.

Garcia has pleaded innocent in Benton County Superior Court to two counts of first-degree assault. Bail is set at $750,000.

Reep’s previous escape

This is not the first time Reep has made a dramatic escape from police. In 2019, police were looking for him because of four outstanding warrants when they found him at a hotel near the intersection of 27th Avenue and Highway 395.

When Kennewick police knocked on the door of the hotel room, he leaped out of a window and began running. Along the way, he dropped a semi-automatic handgun, according to police.

He made it about 20 yards before officers caught up with him.