FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 24, 2023

MEDIA CONTACTS

Bucoda Warren, Office of Mayor Victoria Woodards, bwarren@cityoftacoma.org, (253) 318-0594
Linda Robson, Media & Communications, lrobson@cityoftacoma.org, (253) 219-7083

A Statement from Mayor Victoria Woodards Regarding Injured Detective

TACOMA, Wash. – “Yesterday there was an incident that injured a Tacoma Police Detective that resulted in the arrest of two adolescent suspects. I am thankful that the injuries the detective sustained are not worse. I am grateful for our officers and for the work that they do to keep our community safe. My thoughts are with the detective and his family, and everyone here at the City of Tacoma wishes him a speedy recovery.

While this latest incident did not end in tragedy, gun violence is a terrible disease that has infected communities across the country, and it’s a disease that’s taken far too many innocent lives.

As a community, we simply cannot accept gun violence as inevitable or status quo, especially when it involves our kids. It will take every one of us – law enforcement, government, schools, parents, non-profits and community groups, and individual community members – to step up and make safe spaces for our youth where they can leave the violence and the guns behind and just be kids.

There are programs and resources available today for Tacoma’s youth, including the Summer Teen Late Nights program. I am very grateful to our numerous non-profit partners for running this program and other programs this summer. They are prime examples of the kinds of partnerships that are needed across the board to cure the gun violence disease in our community.

As a community, we cannot ignore this latest tragic incident. We all must step up and do our part and say no more kids with guns.”

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