An adult male shot on East 41st Street was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to a statement from the Tacoma Police Department, officers were dispatched to the area of 1100 Commerce Street after reports of shots fired. An adult male was shot; officers and Tacoma Fire Department personnel treated him, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police said detectives and crime scene technicians were responding to process the scene, and that the department will investigate the death as a homicide. No suspect description, weapon information, or motive has been released, and police have not identified the victim. Officers asked anyone with information about the case to call 911.
A City Already Grappling With Youth Violence
Tacoma has seen a troubling run of homicides involving minors in recent years. As of April 30, 2025, the city had recorded four homicides among people 18 and under since the start of that year, double the number tallied by the same point in 2024, according to The News Tribune. Citywide, Tacoma had logged 10 homicides total as of that date, two more than the year before.
The newspaper's reporting from that period also noted three separate shootings in Tacoma's Salishan neighborhood between April 20 and May 1, 2025.
Those earlier cases carried mixed outcomes. Police had not announced arrests as of May 1, 2025, in the deaths of Mount Tahoma High School junior Veron Lockett or 16-year-old Marco Teran, who was killed on April 12 of that year, per the same News Tribune account. By contrast, two 16-year-olds and two 15-year-olds were arrested and charged with murder in the February 22 fatal shooting of 18-year-old Messiah Washington, and a 15-year-old was arrested and charged in the February 14 homicide of 18-year-old Kadony Robbins, the outlet reported.
Elevated Homicide Count in 2026
Tacoma has recorded 16 homicides in 2026, according to Tacoma Police figures cited by KING 5.
No details have been released connecting this case to any other recent shooting or homicide in the city. Investigators are still in the early stages of the probe into the Commerce Street shooting, and anyone with information has been asked to contact 911.
