A 17-year-old from Spanaway has been apprehended in connection with the discharge of a firearm at a Pierce Transit bus last year and is believed to be involved in another shooting occurring around the same period in Puyallup. The Puyallup Police Department reports that three separate shootings took place in Puyallup between December 12 and December 28 of the previous year. In total, five teenage boys have been detained in relation to these linked incidents.
The young suspect was arrested on Thursday in the 400 block of 15th Avenue Southeast and is currently held at Remann Hall. He faces charges of first-degree assault and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm for the December 22 shooting involving the Pierce Transit bus.
The incident unfolded in downtown Puyallup when two teenagers exited the bus near the intersection of West Pioneer Avenue and South Meridian, subsequently firing at another juvenile inside the bus. This act seemed to be a retaliatory measure for a prior incident where one of the teenagers had been shot in the leg by the same juvenile, as detailed in the charging documents.
Detectives discovered evidence at the teenager’s residence linking him to the Pierce Transit bus shooting and potentially to another shooting on December 12. However, he has only been formally charged for the December 22 incident.
During his appearance at Pierce County Juvenile Court on Friday, a not guilty plea was filed on his behalf, and Judge Joseph Evans set his bail at $250,000.
Another teenager, a 16-year-old from Pierce County, was also charged in connection with both the Pierce Transit incident and the December 12 shooting. Having pleaded guilty to the bus incident, his case for the December 12 shooting has been resolved, according to the Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
The December 12 shooting stemmed from a social media-arranged property transaction that devolved into a robbery. As the victim fled the scene in a vehicle, gunfire from the suspects hit the victim’s vehicle, another parked vehicle, and an unrelated occupied vehicle at a nearby stoplight. Fortunately, there were no injuries reported in this shooting.
In a separate incident on December 28, a shooting at an apartment complex on 701 43rd Avenue Southeast resulted from an illegal firearms transaction gone awry, culminating in a robbery. The victim, who was shot in the leg, sustained severe injuries, prompting officers to administer life-saving aid.
