Two more Tacoma homicides: police investigating separate fatal overnight shootings in city

Two men were killed in separate overnight shootings in Tacoma, police said Sunday morning. Both incidents are being investigated as homicides, adding to a running tally that puts the city and Pierce County on pace for the highest recorded number of killings in recent history.

Initial dispatch calls on the first shooting came at 11:17 p.m. Police responded to multiple reports of shots fired in the area of East 35th and East D Streets. Officers found shell casings in the road, but no sign of victims.

Dispatchers soon heard that a man with gunshot wounds had been dropped off at Tacoma General Hospital by a private vehicle shortly after the initial report of shots fired. The man, 24, died from his injuries.

The second reported shooting came at 2:49 a.m. Officers responded to the 5400 block of South Tacoma Way, and found a man prone on a sidewalk. He had been shot.

Officers started life-saving measures, but the man, 56, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Detectives and crime scene technicians were investigating both incidents Sunday and processing evidence, according to a department statement.

The two fatal shootings push Pierce County’s annual homicide total to 41 — 21 of those incidents occurred within the city of Tacoma. If the grim pace holds, the city would exceed its historic high of 33, set in 1994.

This story was originally published May 8, 2022 at 8:52 AM.