Background: The home in Tacoma, Washington, where the fire broke out (KING/YouTube). Inset: Andrew Cole Keen appearing in court (KING/YouTube).
A man in the greater Seattle area is accused of stabbing his housemates at a sober living home before lighting a blaze meant to trap those living upstairs.
Andrew Cole Keen, 29, has been charged with three counts of second-degree attempted murder and one count of first-degree arson, according to local ABC affiliate KOMO. Keen pleaded not guilty this week and is being held on $1 million bail, Seattle's NBC affiliate KING reported.
It was just before dawn on Tuesday at a home on the 4000 block of South 34th Street in Tacoma, Washington, and several people were living inside the residence authorities said was a registered sober living facility.
Keen had reportedly just moved in three days before, but in that short span of time, his mental health is said to have deteriorated because he had stopped taking a medication. According to court documents, Keen had accused another resident of stealing "something intangible" from him, such as the "emotions or thoughts from his head."
At about 4 a.m. on Tuesday, one of the housemates awoke to hear shouting, the documents stated. He soon realized that one of the residents was "shouting into the phone to 911 and was saying that he was stabbed, and the house was on fire." The witness ran downstairs and "saw flames near the living room bunk beds from floor to ceiling."
The resident cited in the court records "immediately knew this was involving Andrew and was quickly confirmed by all the other residents." Another one of the housemates "had escaped through the upstairs window," and the one who had called 911 "was fully on fire."
Authorities said Keen's father — calling from outside Washington state — reported getting text and social media messages from his son stating he was "going to jail tonight because he was going to kill some people."
Investigators believe Keen lit multiple mattresses and a pile of clothes on fire at the bottom of the stairs of the home in a way that appeared "to contribute in trapping the upstairs residents."
KING spoke with one of the victims of the fire — though it is unclear if it is the same one listed in the court documents — who said "one guy came out [of] the house on fire. He was blazed up, blazed up bad."
When law enforcement arrived at the residence and then found Keen at a nearby 7-Eleven, he reportedly had matches and a lighter on him, as well as a cut on his hand. When officers asked him how the fire started, he allegedly smiled. He was arrested.
Three men were brought to the hospital, and one of them had severe injuries and was listed in critical condition, authorities said.
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