TACOMA, Wash. — Editor's note: Attached video of the Tacoma quadruple shooting aired on Oct. 23
Police arrested a 22-year-old man at a Tacoma house Friday after four people were killed in a shooting in the Salishan neighborhood on Oct. 21.
The suspect was booked into Pierce County Jail on four counts of murder, according to the Tacoma Police Department (TPD).
On Oct. 21, two women and a man were shot and killed in the 4200 block of Everett Street, TPD said. Tacoma firefighters took another man with life-threatening injuries to a local hospital, where he later died.
The suspect lived in the same neighborhood as the victims. His relationship to the victims is unclear.
Three of the shooting victims belonged to the same family. The victims were identified as Raymond Williams, age 22, his girlfriend Natasha Brincefield, 22, his older sister Maria Nunez, 42, and her son Emery Iese, 19. Their manner of death is homicide.
The community held a vigil for the shooting victims on Oct. 23 at Lister Elementary School, not far from where the victims were shot and killed.
The parents of Natasha Brincefield attended the vigil. Brincefield's mother, Kathina, said her loss hits her when she does everyday things like going to the store.
"It's not fair that I get to do this and she doesn't. She doesn't get to live her life," Kathina Brincefield said.
Brincefield's father said he expects justice to be served.
"To shoot four, unarmed people in cold blood at point-blank range is just a coward," Timothy Brincefield said.
Tacoma Assistant Police Chief Taylor said, "Our department is made up of hard-working, caring professionals dedicated to solving these traumatic crimes that occur. We do this for the victims, the victims' families, and the community at large."
After Friday's arrest, Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards and Councilmember Catherine Ushka shared the following joint statement, "On October 21, we grieved the tragic loss of four lives in the Eastside community. Today, Tacoma Police Department detectives, with the assistance of the department’s Special Weapons and Tactics team, took a suspect into custody without incident. While an arrest has been made, we encourage everyone to be patient as we learn more about the facts of this case. We commend the work that the Tacoma Police Department has done today, and in years past, to ensure cases like this one are successfully resolved. We also want to acknowledge our community for the empathy and kindness they displayed over the past week. Although this has been a tremendously difficult time for our city, it reaffirms for us that we are a compassionate Tacoma."
The quadruple shooting brought Tacoma’s homicide numbers to 27, with 18 of them due to gun violence.
“We’ve had an uptick in homicides, but I think one thing we must all be aware of, we have an 82 percent solve rate, and 95 percent over the past six years, while the national average is 61 percent,” said Woodards. “So while we wish these tragedies didn’t happen, and we could prevent all these tragedies, it’s also good to know that we can bring closure when they do happen.”