Union official baffled by Tri-Cities electrician’s suspected trail of rage that left 4 dead

Kennewick’s retired city engineer and his wife, a longtime Tri-Cities educator, were found dead in their home this week, likely at the hands of one of their sons.

Police and crime lab technicians began investigating Thursday the deaths of Vickie and Daniel Kaufman inside their east Kennewick home.

They were the parents of the 43-year-old suspected gunman in a deadly rampage Wednesday that left one neighbor dead and another wounded and three homes burned. Fires also were set in two union halls in Kennewick.

Ryan Kaufman, a longtime Tri-Cities electrical worker, is believed to have died Wednesday morning inside a burning pickup in West Richland. His truck caught fire during a police chase that ended in an exchange of gunfire with four officers.

While investigators have linked the deaths of the Kennewick couple to the West Richland shooting, the suspect has not been officially identified as Ryan Kaufman.

The only person in the truck was badly burned and the coroner said his identification is pending. An autopsy was set for Friday.

An attempt-to-locate alert was issued for Ryan James Kaufman as an arson, assault suspect on Wednesday morning after the 4 a.m. attack on the 21000 block of East Finley Road, according to online police broadcasts.

The alert came with a safety warning for officers to watch for an orange 1973 Dodge pickup with Kaufman, who was “last seen wearing a ballistic helmet and gear” and armed with an assault rifle.

“If located, use caution,” said the alert.

Nearly eight hours later, Kaufman’s parents were discovered in their home by a family member who had gone to check on them after he had not heard from them for a day.

He told emergency dispatchers that he found them “murdered.”

He also told emergency officials that Ryan Kaufman was their son.

Kennewick investigators have not said when they believe Vickie, 68, and Dan Kaufman, 75, died.

No one called 911 to report hearing any gunshots or seeing the fire that caused extensive damage, said Lt. Jason Kiel.

Police are asking neighbors on the 4300 block of Gum Street to check their surveillance cameras for people coming and going in the neighborhood between 3:30 a.m. and 4:30 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 25.

Finley shooting, fires

Investigators from various law enforcement agencies spent much of the week methodically processing the series of crime scenes that stretched some 20 miles, from east of Kennewick to Van Giesen Street in West Richland.

Benton County deputies were first called just before 4 a.m. Wednesday to a break-in on East Finley Road home, where a man was shot and another was later found dead inside his burning home.

Public records show Kaufman owns a Finley home next door to Emil “Bob” Zlatich Jr., 77, the former long-time owner of the Zip’s by the Cable Bridge restaurant.

Family members told the Herald that Zlatich died Wednesday at his home after someone was trying to get inside.

A body presumed to be Zlatich was later found inside his burning house. That autopsy also is planned for Friday.

A relative who called 911 that morning said Zlatich’s son, who has the same name, had been shot and wounded.

The 911 caller also said both their house and the neighbor’s house were on fire.

Benton County deputies found Emil “Rob” Zlatich, 58, in the backyard with a gunshot wound when they arrived.

On Thursday, he was in stable condition at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane. He’d been flown there Wednesday following emergency surgery at Trios Southridge Hospital in Kennewick.

Those who knew his father were mourning his death. Bob Zlatich Jr. was a man who was ”very intelligent and kind hearted,” said a Zip’s Facebook post.

“Bob was a friend and mentor that I look up to in this business life and also life in general. ... (It) is so hard to have to let go of someone who has given me so much to have remembered him by,” said the post.

Benton County assessor records show the Kaufman lived next to the Zlatich family for 20 years.

Kaufman, who attended Kennewick High, bought his 1,500-square-foot house on 1.9 acres in 2002.

Longtime electrician

Two years later, Washington Secretary of State records show Kaufman and another man registered a company called Windy Acres Construction. The business had the same address as Kaufman’s Finley home. The company was dissolved two years later.

Kaufman worked as an electrician and was a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers for more than 20 years, said Travis Swayze, the business representative with Local 112.

“Ryan was a good guy and he was a good electrician,” Swayze told the Herald. “I wouldn’t have guessed him to do something like this.”

He described Kaufman as friendly and would happily talk with people, but was generally quiet.

Kaufman never had problems with the union leadership, and they remain confounded why he would force open the doors at an Edison Street union hall and a Gage Boulevard training center and set fires.

Swayze said the fires started in the entryways with burning gas cans.

On Friday, the union was still cleaning up the damage. The fire in the Edison Street hall triggered the sprinkler system. There wasn’t a sprinkler system in the training building, but the fire didn’t cause serious damage.

Swayze said they have temporarily closed their building and are offering minimal services to members.

He said they are more saddened by the bigger tragedy.

“Our hearts go out to the families affected by this,” he said.

Gum Street victims

Vickie Kaufman, 68, was a respected and well-liked longtime Tri-Cities educator who taught strategies aimed at helping students with language fluency.

Her specialty was Guided Language Acquisition Design (GLAD) for students learning English as a second language.

The mother of three spent more than 17 years with the Pasco School District, according to her Linkedin profile.

Shane Edinger, the district’s director of Public Affairs, said she retired a few years ago.

“We are shocked and saddened by this sudden and tragic loss,” said a release sent to district staff on Friday.

She’d also worked many years for the Kennewick School District and in Columbia-Burbank and Umatilla, Ore., schools, according to her Linkedin profile.

Her husband, Dan, retired in 2011 after working as the city engineer for 26 years, said the city.

Last month, he’d celebrated turning 75.

His wife posted on her Facebook page in late July, “Happy Birthday to my best decision ever!”

This story was originally published August 27, 2021 at 5:00 AM.