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Man located, arrested after OIS in Tacoma

TACOMA, Wash. — On Feb. 14, Tacoma police located and arrested Kenneth Wright, the man wanted after fleeing an officer-involved shooting.

Tacoma police earlier released a photo of the armed man who fled after a fatal OIS in the city's south end.

  • Woman fatally shot by police
  • Officers say she tried to run them over with car
  • Passenger ran from scene armed with a rifle
  • Officers asked south end residents to stay in homes during search
  • Search called off shortly before 6 a.m.

Just before midnight Thursday, patrol officers saw a wanted man in the passenger seat of a vehicle parked on the side of the road in the 3300 block of South Sawyer Street.

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The officers walked up to the vehicle after identifying the man as someone with two outstanding felony warrants.

Upon seeing the officers, the driver of the vehicle accelerated toward them in an attempt to hit the officers, according to investigators.

One of the officers then opened fire on the vehicle, hitting the driver.

The passenger, who was armed with a rifle, ran from the scene. The driver, a woman in her 20s, died at the scene.

Police searched for the 32-year-old man, identified as Kenneth E. Wright Jr., in an area south of Interstate 5 between Reed Elementary School and Lincoln High school, and asked people in the area to stay in their homes.

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Police opened streets they had closed in the area about 6 a.m. after the man was not found.

"We're looking for a black male who is 6 feet 1 inches tall, 195 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. He's armed with a rifle,” Loretta Cool of the Tacoma Police Department said.

Authorities say Wright has an arrest warrant  for first-degree robbery and unlawful possession of a firearm.