Self-Inflicted Wound Led To Arrest Of Suspect -- 6 Plu Students Injured In Shooting At Party

A man suspected of shooting six college students was arrested while being treated for a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The 19-year-old Parkland-area man, who was to be arraigned today, was arrested on suspicion of shooting six Pacific Lutheran University students at a party near the campus.

The man was arrested Saturday at a Parkland medical clinic where he had gone for treatment of a wound. He apparently had shot himself in the hand, a Pierce County sheriff's spokesman said. The suspect, who is not a PLU student, was in jail on $300,000 bail for investigation of first-degree assault.

Authorities say the man and as many as eight others had tried to crash the party, setting off a loud confrontation with the three dozen students attending the party.

Three PLU football players were among the shooting victims. Senior Leif Langlois, 21, of Seattle, an offensive guard, was in serious condition today in St. Joseph Hospital. A bullet pierced his arm and lodged in his chest.

Bill Feeney of LaConner, a junior defensive lineman, was treated for a leg wound, and freshman lineman Jason Teel, Astoria, Ore., was treated for a wound in his buttocks. Both were released from hospitals Saturday.

John Toeves, a junior from Quincy, Grant County, was in satisfactory condition at Tacoma General Hospital with a leg wound. Two other students, sophomore Dan Voltz of Chewelah, Stevens County, and senior Marcus Heard of San Francisco, were treated for less serious gunshot wounds and released.

The shooting late Friday occurred at a home rented by three PLU students across the street from the campus, said Curt Benson, a Pierce County sheriff's spokesman.

The suspect and six to eight of his friends had already fled when officers arrived.

The football players had confronted the party crashers, some of whom were known to the students, Benson said.

Campus security director Walt Huston said security patrols on the campus have been increased since the shooting.

Benson said Langlois is lucky to be alive. ``If it had been a larger caliber weapon he probably would have been killed,'' he said. The gun used was a .22-caliber pistol.

Langlois, a business student, considered himself fortunate. ``I was watching (the gunman), but I thought he had a cap gun or something. I didn't think he had bullets in it,'' Langlois said.

``I was only there about a minute before I was shot. It was just one of those wrong-place-at-the-wrong-time sort of things.''

-- Times staff reporter Dee Norton and the Associated Press contributed to this report.