Name of Tacoma police officer who shot homicide suspect is released
The name of a Tacoma police officer who shot a man suspected of murder last month after police were led on a car chase into Lakewood has been made public.
Angel Castaneda, 26, has been with the Tacoma Police Department for 5 years and three months, according to a news release from the Pierce County Force Investigation Team. PCFIT investigates all police uses of deadly force in the county.
Castaneda shot 23-year-old Jeremiah Tusi on Feb. 15 while officers were trying to apprehend him as a suspect in a murder at a motel in the city’s South End. Tusi fled and drove into Lakewood, where he crashed his car.
PCFIT said Tuesday that Castaneda shot Tusi while he was attempting to carjack a woman after the crash. Investigators said Tusi reached for his front sweatshirt pocket, where officers later recovered a firearm. Tusi was seriously injured and taken to a hospital.
Tusi was charged with first-degree murder in the Feb. 7 death of Joshua Ferrell.
Investigators with PCFIT issued a summary of what led to police shooting Tusi based on surveillance video and statements from officers and witnesses.
When police attempted to arrest Tusi in the parking lot of a hotel in the 8700 block of South Hosmer Street, there was a foot pursuit, and Tusi was able to get into a car. One officer saw the man had a firearm on him and radioed this information to other officers.
Tusi led police on a pursuit, running into several vehicles along the way, some of which were occupied, according to PCFIT. He eventually crashed at 8800 South Tacoma Way in Lakewood, then ran up to a gray van occupied by a woman.
Castaneda was challenging Tusi at gunpoint while he reached to open the van door in an attempt to carjack the woman, investigators said. Then Tusi turned his body toward Castaneda and reached toward his front sweatshirt pocket. Castaneda then shot him.
Tusi fell to the ground, where he was detained in handcuffs. Officers found a firearm in Tusi’s front sweatshirt pocket and another firearm in the vehicle he was driving.
PCFIT is continuing to investigate the shooting.
This story was originally published March 9, 2022 at 8:38 AM.
