Two armed carjackings were reported in Tacoma early Sunday morning: the first directly across from the University of Puget Sound campus just after midnight and the second roughly 90 minutes later, six miles away. Students in the normally quiet neighborhood were shaken and raised concerns about university communication and security.
Tacoma police are investigating both incidents, according to FOX 13 Seattle, which reported that the first carjacking happened around 12:40 a.m. off North 14th Street, when an armed suspect pointed a gun at a woman and stole her vehicle. One of the two incidents involved a University of Puget Sound student, according to classmates cited in that report.
About 90 minutes after the first attack, a second carjacking was reported roughly six miles away near the Salishan neighborhood in East Tacoma, per the same account. Investigators have not linked the two crimes, and no arrests have been made in either case as both remain under active investigation.
Students Demand Answers From the University
Students living near campus told the station they were shocked by the back-to-back attacks and raised concerns about how the university communicated about the danger and what it is doing to keep the area secure. In response, the University of Puget Sound said it is increasing security patrols in and around campus and adding new lights and cameras, the station reported.
Authorities are asking anyone with details about either carjacking to contact the Tacoma Police Department.
Not the First Scare Near This Campus
The weekend’s violence isn’t the first time gunfire or armed confrontations have unsettled the University of Puget Sound. Back on March 27, 2016, an attempted armed robbery near Anderson/Langston Residence Hall ended with a suspect firing a shot into the air before fleeing toward 18th Street, according to The Trail, the campus student newspaper. No one was hurt in that confrontation, which involved three men who approached a student and a guest and demanded money, with at least two of the suspects appearing to be armed.
The Trail noted that incident wasn’t an isolated one either — it followed two earlier instances of gunfire near campus, including a November 2015 incident in which ten shots were fired at Puget Sound security officers near 13th and Alder, and another in April 2012. No injuries were reported in either of those earlier cases.
Part of a Broader Pattern Around Tacoma
Armed carjackings have proven to be a recurring and sometimes deadly problem in the Tacoma area. Just last year, a Tacoma Police Department officer fatally shot an armed carjacking suspect on a Saturday afternoon after a vehicle theft, a multi-vehicle collision, and an additional armed carjacking, with the pursuit ultimately ending in Puyallup, Hoodline previously reported.
Armed carjackings near college campuses are not unique to Tacoma. In 2023, Seattle Police responded to a report of a man held at gunpoint and his car stolen near Seattle University in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, an incident that prompted a campus lockdown, according to the Seattle Police Department.
For now, the University of Puget Sound community is left waiting for answers in both Sunday’s cases, with police still working to determine whether the two attacks are connected and whether more suspects remain at large.
