Puyallup police officer who shot, injured suspect identified by investigators
The Puyallup police officer who shot and seriously injured a man last week during a response to a domestic-violence incident was identified Friday by the state’s Office of Independent Investigations.
The officer is Zion Gregory, 29, the Office of Independent Investigations (OII)said in a news release. The Puyallup Police Department hired him in March 2025, and he is assigned to patrol.
Puyallup police responded June 5 to a residence in the 1600 block of 4th Avenue after a woman called 911 that evening and reported her brother was trying to kill her. While officers responded, according to the Police Department, dispatch advised that the suspect was breaking windows in the residence.
Police said the first officer to arrive at the scene, now identified as Gregory, was waiting for more officers to arrive when the suspect came at him in the street while armed with a metal baton. Moments later, the officer reported shots fired.
Hector Castro, a spokesperson for the OII, said the suspect remained at a hospital as of Thursday. Police have described him as a man in his 30s. Castro said this is the OII’s first deadly-force investigation in Pierce County. The office assumed the role of investigating police uses of deadly force in May
“Still an early stage for this investigation,” Castro said in a phone call.
While the OII investigates the officer’s use of deadly force, the Pierce County Force Investigation Team is investigating the underlying criminal incident. The Tacoma Police Department is leading that inquiry and has said the man is suspected of two counts of first-degree assault, violating a protection order and other offenses.
