TACOMA, Wash. — Tacoma police are investigating two separate homicides that occurred in the early hours of Saturday morning, according to releases from the Tacoma Police Department (TPD).
Detectives responded to a call from 900 N Pearl about possible gunshots around 1:30 a.m. Saturday morning. When police arrived, they found a victim unresponsive with signs of trauma, according to a release. The Tacoma Fire Department responded and pronounced the victim dead at the scene.
A few hours later, before detectives had finished processing the first murder scene, police responded to Wright Park after receiving a call about a man who was unresponsive with signs of an injury. The Tacoma Fire Department also pronounced that man dead at the scene.
The playground equipment was closed for several hours Saturday morning while officers investigated.
Both incidents are being investigated as homicides. Detectives do not see any obvious connection between the two and have not released any motives. Two different sets of detectives are working the cases.
“It's taxing, there's a lot of officers going a lot of different ways we use the resources we have wisely we make sure we investigate them each completely even if it wearing us thin,” Officer Shelbie Boyd with the Tacoma Police Department explained.
Saturday’s incidents bring the total to 16 homicides in the city, so far this year. There were 32 in Tacoma in 2020. The City of Tacoma website says it averages 18 in a typical year.
A department representative said violent crime had been trending down in the first half of 2021 but, after two busy weekends, they would have to look at the data with a crime analyst to see if that trend is still holding.