Tacoma Police arrested a 17-year-old boy Monday in Thursday's fatal shooting of another teenager on Portland Avenue. The death was Tacoma's first homicide of the year and the first of three subsequent shootings involving two other teens in the city.
The latest, a 16-year-old boy who was shot Sunday evening on North Pearl Street, was still in critical condition Monday, according to Tacoma Police spokesperson Wendy Haddow. The shooting shut down state Route 163 between North 42nd and 44th streets while police investigated.
The boy was driving a vehicle in the northbound lanes of North Pearl when someone in another car, which was also driving north, opened fire. The boy's vehicle crashed into a residence.
No suspects are in custody, Haddow said Monday afternoon.
A second shooting Thursday night occurred in the 2100 block of South J Street following a two-car collision, Haddow said. A 13-year-old girl in one of the cars was found shot. Her injuries were not life-threatening.
The girl had been shot prior to the crash, but police have yet to determine where and when. The driver and other passengers in the girl's vehicle fled the scene, Haddow said.
Unrelated
Tacoma Police do not believe the three shootings are related, Haddow said.
The shootings come in the wake of a record-breaking year of homicides for Tacoma. In all of Pierce County, 79 people died as the result of homicides in 2022.
Tacoma Police are asking the public to call Crime Stoppers with any information about the shootings.
"If they see something suspicious, if they see juveniles with guns, call 911," Haddow said.
