FEDERAL WAY, Wash. — Federal Way Mayor Jim Ferrell implemented a new Violent Crimes Task Force Friday following a string of gun violence in the city last week, including a fatal shooting of a 2-year-old.
The new task force goes into effect immediately and will consist of members of the Federal Way Police Department on each shift who are dedicated to solving violent crimes.
The search for the suspect that shot and killed the 2-year-old boy outside of an IHOP last week spurred Ferrell to start the new task force.
“We have not identified the culprit for IHOP and we're going to move heaven and earth to do so,” said Ferrell. “What is driving a situation in which people believe in broad daylight they can assassinate someone in a car and that's a different offender than what we've been dealing with before."
Last week, Federal Way saw a string of gun violence, starting with the shooting of the toddler.
“This little 2-year-old boy who was in this car was with his 1-year-old brother in the back seat of the car in a car seat,” Ferrell said.
The mayor said the suspects were in a stolen car and fled the scene after the shooting. Police believe the father was targeted in the shooting, and the toddler was caught in the crossfire.
“We need to know and our detectives do as well, where did they go in those ten minutes? Where did they go and come back, presumably with a firearm, and who are they associating with? We need to get to the root cause and address it,” said Ferrell.
Later that same day, there was another incident of gun violence. Police are looking for who is responsible for a shooting outside a convenience store on Pacific Highway.
The next day, a teenage girl was shot through a window inside an apartment. Police believe that the shooting was targeted.
“We really needed that extra investigation really to free up resources to be able to throw everything we have to not only be able to solve those crimes but every violent crime in the area,” Ferrell said.
Earlier this week, the mayor said he plans to propose adding more police officers to the department's already 150 in the upcoming September budget. The mayor wants to apply for federal grants to help cover the cost of their salaries.