At 11:24 pm, on Tuesday December 12th, our deputies were in pursuit of a vehicle for DUI when it went to the dead end of 4300 Vickery Ave E. At 11:28 pm, deputies advised “shots fired” over the radio.
One deputy believed he had been struck and was immediately taken to an ambulance. He was thoroughly checked and found to have no serious injuries and was not transported to the hospital.
Other deputies and incoming officers were calling to the suspect to get him to surrender. The suspect was uncooperative and refusing to leave his vehicle.
Pierce County SWAT was called to take over the incident and Tacoma Police had their armored vehicle on scene to assist.
At approximately 1:28 am on Wednesday December 13th SWAT was able to extract the suspect from his vehicle. He was treated by SWAT deputies and taken to an ambulance to be transported to the hospital.
As deputies were waiting for the suspect to surrender we learned the 2nd deputy in that two man car had been struck by a bullet.
The bullet hit his handcuff pouch and bent on of his handcuffs. The deputy was uninjured from the round, but did have minor injuries from glass cutting his face.
We are thankful that our deputies were not seriously injured but are concerned with the recent violence directed towards our deputies.
We have had 3 shootings and were shot at a 4th time in the last 4 weeks. We know it can be a dangerous job, but I just want everyone to realize and appreciate that our Deputies have families and work hard trying to keep everyone out there safe and make it home themselves every night.