Police investigating after teen killed in Salishan area of Tacoma
Police are investigating a shooting that killed a teen Sunday night in the Salishan area of Tacoma as a homicide, according to a news release from the Tacoma Police Department. Another report of gunfire on the same street Monday led Blix Elementary to go into a temporary modified lockdown, though police can’t confirm if the two gunfire reports are connected.
Officers responded to the 1700 block of East 41st Street just before 9:30 p.m. Sunday for reports of gunfire and found a boy who appeared to have been shot, the release said. Officers immediately began life-saving measures. Tacoma Fire Department personnel arrived soon after and took the boy to a local hospital, but he did not survive.
Asked for the victim’s age, Tacoma Police Department spokesperson Shelbie Boyd told The News Tribune via phone around 5:40 p.m. Monday that he was a teenager and that the Medical Examiner’s Office would have his age. She did not have further information about the cause or circumstances of the shooting.
“All of that is still under investigation,” Boyd said.
No arrests have been made, and detectives and crime-scene technicians are investigating the incident as a homicide, according to the release.
Boyd confirmed that there was an incident Monday in the same area. Around 1:30 p.m. Monday, police received calls from people in the neighborhood about shots fired near East 41st Street and Salishan Boulevard. No one was injured, and no one is in custody from that incident, Boyd told The News Tribune. She said she doesn’t know if the two incidents are connected and that it’s too early to tell. Detectives will review the details once reports are filed.
Blix Elementary, 1302 E. 38th St., temporarily went into a modified lockdown Monday around the time of the incident, but it was lifted shortly after police notified the school that the threat was clear, according to Boyd. She said there is no active threat to the school at this time.
A “modified lockdown” is used “when the threat is external and not directed at the school,” according to the Tacoma Public Schools website. During a modified lockdown, students and staff are allowed to move freely within the school and classes continue, but restrictions are placed on entries and exits. Doors to the school are already locked throughout the school day, Tacoma Public Schools spokesperson Kathryn McCarthy told The News Tribune via email.
Students may not be aware that a modified lockdown is in place, and the school generally does not provide communication to families after a modified lockdown, she wrote. Tacoma Public Schools does provide communication after a full lockdown, which occurs when “there is a serious threat on campus” and involves making an announcement over the intercom and directing people to “secured spaces with limited windows,” according to McCarthy.
Correction: A previous version of this story misstated the type of lockdown that Blix Elementary went into on April 20.
This story was originally published April 21, 2025 at 6:17 PM.
