TACOMA, Wash. — Three teenagers are in custody following a Christmas Day shooting at a Tacoma gas station that left a 16-year-old grazed by a bullet.
The shooting happened just after 4 p.m. on Thursday outside of the Country Boy Mart on East 56th Street and McKinley Avenue.
Police say the 16-year-old who was shot was arrested along with two other teens in connection with the incident.
Investigators believe shots were fired outside the gas station, though it’s still unclear what led to the shooting or how the teens knew each other.
“It’s just a real eerie feeling knowing that you live in this neighborhood, and things like this are happening to teenagers,” said India Gauthier, who pulled into the gas station after the shooting to see what happened.
Gauthier said she couldn’t believe it.
“On Christmas? Like... It’s a scary thought to even bring my kids outside now,” she added.
Evidence markers and crime tape covered parts of the gas station as police investigated the scene.
No one else was hurt.
“They want to shoot up the freaking gas station? That could have been more victims involved had it been explosive. People got to really start using their minds because it don’t make no sense at all,” Gauthier said.
Police also responded to a scene just blocks away in a nearby neighborhood, where they towed a car connected to the shooting. Officers plan to serve a search warrant on the vehicle.
Two of the teens were taken to Remann Hall, a juvenile detention center, while one was booked into the Pierce County Jail.
All three were booked on first-degree assault and drive-by shooting charges.
The investigation is ongoing.