9-year-old shot in suspected drive-by at Point Defiance Park
A 9-year-old girl was shot in her left arm Saturday night in a suspected drive-by shooting inside Point Defiance Park. Tacoma Police say the call came in at around 9:20 p.m. from the 6100 block of Owen Beach Road, not far from Owen Beach. Police say the girl was driven to Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital in a private vehicle with non-life threatening injuries.
As of Sunday night, the 9-year-old has been discharged from the hospital and is expected to be ok.
But in response to this shooting and recent uptick in crime and violence, Point Defiance Park will be closing at 8:30 p.m. from July 9th through the 16th. There will also be more patrols in the area during that time span as well.
KIRO7 spoke with several park goers about the shooting and the parks response to it all. Amanda Nelson, who lives close to the area, says they were leaving the park Saturday night when they saw patrol cars come through the entrance.
“We had just been here for a walk and we got home and saw the cop cars outside the entrance and we were wondering what was going on,” Nelson said.
She says to hear that a 9-year-old was shot is heartbreaking.
“It’s terrible and it’s not the first time I’ve heard of a kid getting shot recently,” Nelson said.
“This is somewhere where families…..if you look around, it’s all families here. I mean, you should feel safe especially at a public place like this where this not supposed to be crime or nobody is out here trying to hurt anybody,” Nelson said.
Tacoma detectives say they believe that this is a isolated incident at this time and that the park is not a dangerous place, but they want to do what they can to make sure everyone is safe.
“We definitely want to make sure that those places where people congregate to enjoy the outdoors and weather are kept safe,” Tacoma Police Detective William Muse said.
While many people hope the earlier hours and extra patrol can curb the crime and violence, they hope overall the park and city of Tacoma can be safe places.
“Hopefully people collectively just start being a little nicer to each other,” Nelson said.
Police say at this time they only believe one person is responsible for the shooting. If anyone knows anything about this case, they are urged to call Tacoma Police or Crimestoppers.
