Hundreds gather to remember 4 victims of Tacoma shooting

Associated Press

TACOMA – Hundreds of people gathered in Tacoma this weekend to leave flowers, candles and messages in a memorial for four people killed in a spate of shootings last week that police are still investigating. No one has been arrested in the shootings, and authorities have yet to disclose a possible motive.

Family and friends of the victims gathered at Tacoma Indian Baptist Church for a candlelight vigil Saturday, KIRO-TV reported. It identified the victims as Maria Nunez, 42; her son, Emery Iese, 19; his uncle, Raymond Williams, 22; and Williams’ girlfriend, Natasha Brincefield, 22.

All were slain Thursday in the city’s Salishan neighborhood.

Tacoma Indian Baptist Church “is where Emery spent a lot of his time. If he wasn’t working, if he wasn’t training in boxing, he was here,” Lauvale Iese, known locally as Pastor Louie, said of his son, Emery. Maria Nunez was Iese’s wife.

The four victims, Iese added, had “no affiliation with gangs, or drugs, or any of that sort.”

A Sunday peace walk was planned in the city.

Police have asked anyone with information about the shootings to contact the national Crime Stoppers hotline.

Tacoma Police spokesperson Wendy Haddow said last week there have been 27 homicides in Tacoma this year. Last year’s 32 recorded homicides were the most since 1994, when there were 33. The city has a population of about 220,000.