Person fatally shot by Tacoma police while officers investigated suspect in parked car

TACOMA — A person was shot and killed early Friday morning by a Tacoma Police Department officer after the person fled from police investigating them in a parked car near Pacific Avenue.

Few details were immediately available about the shooting. According to the police department, officers were investigating a person suspected of unlawful possession of a firearm and illegal discharge of a weapon at about 3:05 a.m. Police said officers saw the suspect in car parked at Pacific Avenue and South 45th Street. As officers investigated, the suspect drove off.

Tacoma police said a shooting occurred at McKinley Avenue and East 57th Street, about a mile-and-a-half from where the suspect fled. In a news release, the police department said no officers were injured but provided no further detail about the incident. Pierce County Sheriff’s Department spokesperson Sgt. Darren Moss confirmed that a person was shot and killed.

Police said the Pierce County Force Investigation Team responded to take over an investigation into the shooting. The team investigates all incidents in the county where law enforcement uses deadly force. The state Attorney General’s Office of Independent Investigations was also notified.

It’s unclear what led to the shooting, how many officers were involved and whether the suspect police were investigating was armed with a weapon. Police did not release any identifying information about the suspect. Police scanner traffic indicated there was also a person in the passenger’s seat of the suspect’s vehicle.