TACOMA, Wash. — An 11-year-old, a 12-year-old, a 14-year-old, and a 16-year-old were arrested Thursday in connection to a shooting on Interstate 5 in Tacoma.
The shooting occurred on Sunday, March 20 around 4:40 p.m. The driver of a Toyota 4Runner was cut off by a maroon passenger van on the interchange ramp to eastbound 38th Street. The driver of the 4Runner honked his horn, according to the Washington State Patrol (WSP).
The passenger van then slowed down and the right-front passenger fired five shots at the 4Runner, hitting it twice.
No injuries were reported.
Employees of a nearby business reached out to police after hearing about the passenger van's involvement in the drive-by shooting, according to the WSP. The employees told officers four occupants of a vehicle with a similar description stole ammunition shortly before the shooting occurred.
The business was able to give detectives surveillance footage and still photos of the suspects in the maroon van. The driver of the 4Runner was able to positively identify one of the suspects in the van from the footage, according to the WSP.
After releasing the footage to other local law enforcement agencies, the Eatonville Police Department located the van and the suspects near Eatonville High School. When officers attempted to approach the suspects, they led police on a chase that ended in Roy. Pierce County Sheriff's deputies and officers with the Eatonville and Roy police departments were able to take all four suspects into custody.
All four suspects were taken to Remann Hall Juvenile Detention Center on charges of assault in the first degree and drive-by shooting charges.
The Pierce County Prosecutor’s Office filed one count of attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle against the 16-year-old on Friday. A spokesperson for the Pierce County Prosecutor’s Office said the ammunition theft and I-5 shooting are still under investigation and “there will be no charges stemming from those” on Friday.
The other three juveniles are not being charged at this time, Pierce County Prosecutor’s Office said Friday.
It's believed the suspects have been involved in other violent crimes around Pierce County. Anyone with additional information about the suspects is asked to contact Detective James Meldrum at (360) 890-5870.
