On Tuesday, February 24, 2026, a tranquil cul-de-sac in the Purdy area of Gig Harbor, Washington, became the site of an unimaginable horror when a 32-year-old man, driven by the delusion that he was an Egyptian deity, attacked his family home with knives and brutally murdered four individuals before being fatally shot by a sheriff’s deputy.
The Pierce County Sheriff’s Office received the initial emergency call at 8:41 a.m. reporting a violation of a protection order at a residence in the 14000 block of 87th Avenue Court Northwest. While deputies were traveling to the scene, witnesses began flooding emergency lines with reports that the man was actively stabbing people outside the home, with at least one victim attacked in the middle of the street before horrified onlookers.
The suspect, identified as Aleksandr Aleksand Shablykin, was pronounced dead at the scene after a single arriving deputy confronted him and discharged his firearm at 9:33 a.m. Three victims were discovered deceased at the residence, while a fourth was transported urgently to a nearby hospital in critical condition but later died from their injuries.
The Pierce County Force Investigation Team has assumed responsibility for investigating the deputy-involved shooting, confirming that the deputy acted alone and was the only officer assigned to that district at the time due to significant staffing shortages within the department.
Among those killed was the suspect’s 52-year-old mother, Zoya Shablykin, who had a documented history of terror inflicted by her son. Court records from an April 2025 protection order petition reveal that Zoya had desperately sought intervention, writing that her son was “doing witchcraft/occult behavior and doing rituals in my home, damaging personal belongings,” that he had harmed her cat, and that he “thinks [he is] an Egyptian god!”
She described herself as an “elderly disabled woman” being exploited and threatened, noting that he had told her, “Your grave has been dug up.” Court records also indicate that Shablykin had a history of mental health issues dating back to 2020, including auditory hallucinations and command hallucinations.
The three other victims were neighbors who, witnessing the attack unfold, courageously rushed to intervene and assist Zoya, only to be killed themselves by the knife-wielding assailant. A family friend described the scene, stating, “Alex killed four people today – his mother Zoya and three neighbors who tried to help her. Then the cops rolled in as he was killing the third one and they shot and killed him.”
The friend expressed frustration with the police response time, saying, “The response time by the police was s**t, they didn’t show up until he stabbed four people.” Authorities have since confirmed that the no-contact order referenced in the morning’s 911 call was not yet enforceable because it had not been formally served to Shablykin, and deputies were en route with a copy to serve it when the rampage began.
Shablykin’s sister, Anastasia, 30, and her 11-year-old daughter were not present during the attack, having sought safety elsewhere, leaving Anastasia with the devastating responsibility of informing their grandmother of her daughter’s death. A neighbor who witnessed the aftermath described seeing a woman lying next to a mailbox, stabbed, and another body between buildings, covered by a white sheet, saying, “It’s so surreal, you don’t think happen in your neighborhood.”
As the Gig Harbor community grapples with this incomprehensible violence, the investigation continues, with the Pierce County Force Investigation Team leading the inquiry and authorities yet to release the names of the three heroic neighbors who lost their lives attempting to save another.