Deputy commends ‘very brave’ officers who cornered Tacoma shooter

Tacoma and Pierce County officers went above and beyond the typical line of duty during the fatal shooting and standoff that started Wednesday night and ended early Thursday morning. Pierce County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Ed Troyer said that while some removed a wounded officer, others stayed and secured the house during a gun battle with the Tacoma shooter while waiting for the SWAT team to arrive.

“They stayed in that house and secured the house while this gun battle was going on to make sure this guy doesn’t get out of there and we have him trapped inside the house, which turned out to be a very brave call by the guys who did it, and it worked,” Troyer said.

“And they were very patient to go through the night,” he said. “We were there for another almost nine hours trying to negotiate with him and he just was not cooperative and actually made different types of threats that he had killed the kids and at one point we thought he had may have killed one of them.”

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Reginald “Jake” Gutierrez, a 17-year veteran of the force, was shot after responding to a domestic violence call. He died after being transported to a hospital. The 38-year-old Tacoma shooter allegedly held his 6-year-old boy and 8-year-old girl as human shields in the home at 413 East 52nd Street.

Troyer said that the officers who retrieved Gutierrez secured the perimeter of the residence because they knew the shooter had multiple guns, including shotguns. Troyer said the man fired through the roof and took shots at the police helicopter. Officers had to keep everyone, including neighbors out of the way. Meanwhile, on the inside, the remaining officers put together a plan.

“We didn’t want any more officers to get hurt or killed so they did a great job of improvising, getting in there, waiting for our SWAT team to get in there and meticulously trapped him up in the top of the house,” Troyer said. “They were able to grab one of the kids and move him out of harm’s way. He went for the other kid, grabbed the kid and one of our marksmen from our SWAT team at that point had the shot and took it.”

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The Tacoma shooter

Don asked what kind of courage it takes to stay when you know you could be shot through the floor or the door?

“Well, that did happen, there were some rounds that went through the floors and doors and they stayed in the house and got him secured and were replaced by SWAT team members who had the gear to go more in a confrontational manner toward him,” he said. “Then, once we found out he had the kids, of course, that changes everything and so we were very diligent in being patient in making sure that those kids didn’t get hurt.

“You always hear the cliché that we run toward gunfire instead of away from it, toward a problem instead of away from it. This really proves that there are a lot of guys and a lot of people that really do that and will stay in harm’s way to make sure others don’t get hurt.”

Troyer said there was nothing happy about this story but commended the overall operation, specifically since no other officers or the kids were hurt or killed.

Troyer said the SWAT officer who killed the shooter is among six members of the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office who are now on standard administrative leave. He said some there were some fried nerves for some who were first on scene, as well as those who had shots fired at them through the walls.

“We’re taking care of them and Tacoma’s gonna have some people that are in the same situation and that’s the standard procedure to make sure our people are alright and get them back to work,” he said. “And there’s nobody high-fiving. There is nothing to celebrate here but there is a lot to be thankful for that no other officers were hurt or killed and those kids got out of the house.”

Ron and Don saluted all of the officers involved.

“You think about the bravery of those men and women that did that last night,” Don said.

“And that’s contrasted with the cowardice of a man who wanted to use children as a human shield,” Ron added.

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