TACOMA, Wash. — A 17-year-old has been arrested in the fatal shooting of a 14-year-old boy in Tacoma.
The teen was arrested Monday on suspicion of first-degree murder and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, according to the Tacoma Police Department.
The 14-year-old boy was shot near Portland Avenue East and East 40th Street on Thursday about 3 p.m. He was taken to the hospital where he later died from his injuries.
Kenneth Bradley says his family is still trying to come to terms with the loss of 14-year-old Xaviar Siess. He described his stepson as a bright young man, who just wanted to help people.
"If you were going through something, he'd try to make you laugh or smile to make you forget about what you're going through," Bradley said. "He would give you the shirt off his back. If you had no place to go, he'd be right there with you. He was like that."
Siess was the first of three teens who were shot in Tacoma over a span of four days.
On Thursday around 7:40 p.m., a juvenile was found shot near South 21st Street and South J Street in the Hilltop neighborhood. They were taken to the hospital.
On Sunday, a 16-year-old boy was shot near North Pearl Street and North 43rd Street in the Ruston neighborhood. Tacoma police say the teen was driving on Pearl Street when another car pulled up alongside him, and the suspect shot him. The teen’s car left the roadway and crashed.
As of Monday, that 16-year-old was still in the hospital with life-threatening injuries.
The 14-year-old’s killing was the first homicide in Tacoma in 2023.
There has been a steady increase in homicides in Tacoma over the past several years. Police reported 42 homicides in 2022.
Tacoma police investigated a total of 34 homicides in 2021, 31 homicides in 2020 and 23 homicides in 2019. There were 18 homicides in Tacoma in 2018 and 12 in 2017, according to a spokesperson for the Tacoma Police Department.
Tacoma Police Chief Avery Moore says his department confiscated close to 500 illegal firearms last year and is working to figure out how to do more to get guns out of young people's hands.
"How do kids, who can't buy guns legally, get these guns? And that's something that I want to address directly with our federal partners," Moore said.