A bail bondsman who fatally shot a woman in Graham may avoid facing criminal charges if authorities determine he acted in self-defense. Kathryn New, 60, was shot after she brandished a gun while the bondsman was trying to take her son into custody April 13 on arrest warrants, according to the Pierce County Sheriff Department. The bondsman wasn't arrested. As of April 22, the Pierce County prosecuting attorney's office hadn't announced if charges would be filed. Ed Troyer, a spokesman for the Sheriff Department, gave this account of the shooting: Three bail bondsmen went to the family's home in the 10200 block of 260th Street East about 8 a.m. to serve two warrants on New's 30-year-old son. One warrant, with a $50,000 bail, was for driving under the influence. The other was for violation of a domestic violence no-contact order that barred him from being in his mother's home or near her. The son didn't resist being taken into custody, but his mother protested. She went into another room and returned with a firearm, which she pointed at the bondsmen. After she refused their orders to drop it, one bondsman tased her and another bondsman shot her with a gun almost simultaneously. The bondsman who fatally shot New is a former sheriff deputy who resigned from the Pierce County department six years ago amid an internal investigation, according to Troyer. New was taken to St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma, where she died after undergoing surgery. Troyer said New's husband was in the house at the time of the incident. The no-contact order was issued last November after deputies were called to the family's home because the son was drunk and fighting with his father while trying to move out his things. Deputies arrested the son and put him in a patrol car, where he yelled at his father and threatened to kill him. "We have responded to several 9-1-1 callsGÇ¥ at the home "and have had many run-ins with the son,GÇ¥ Troyer said.
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