TACOMA, Wash. — As investigators continue to track down the people responsible for the Tacoma’s 21st homicide of 2023, the city’s martial arts community is gathering to remember 39-year-old Joe Briggs.
Paul Boudreaux runs Certified Martial Arts in University Place, and said he met Briggs though martial arts, and would see him at different fighting tournaments, eventually forming a bond that lasted years.
He said Briggs was an active member of the martial arts community, and was always willing to help anyone sharpen their skills in the ring.
“He always wanted to be a true martial artist,” he recalled. “He loved martial arts, loved training, was super fit, a young guy, and just loved being around people in the community.”
Tacoma police officers found Briggs shot multiple times in the chest around 2 a.m. Sunday on South Tacoma Way.
Investigators soon learned that Briggs was trying to help a woman who was being assaulted by three other men, who was trying to save another woman from those same three men.
The suspects haven't been identified.
Boudreaux said hearing the news was devastating, but no one who knew Briggs is surprised.
“There is no world in which Joe doesn’t come to the aid of someone else,” he said. “That is the kind of person that he was. He would be the first person to stand up if something wrong was going on, and so as tragic as it is, the way the story happened, as him going out trying to be a hero and save someone has not been a surprise to anyone.”
Now Boudreaux hopes that others can learn from Briggs’s example.
“If anyone’s trying to wonder how they can honor him, is to be a part of the community, and give back, and take care of yourself, and come to the aid of others,” he said.
The Tacoma Police Department is encouraging anyone with any information about this shooting to get in touch with them as soon as possible. Briggs is survived by a son and daughter.