Police fatally shoot woman, search for her passenger

TACOMA — Tacoma police fatally shot a woman and were searching for an armed man who was a passenger in her car.

Police had been searching for Kenneth Wright Jr., a 32-year-old homeless man, who has two outstanding felony warrants for robbery, drugs and firearms charges, when they spotted his vehicle late Thursday, police spokeswoman Loretta Cool said.

Officers walked up to the car and a woman behind the wheel stepped on the gas and sped toward the officers, authorities said. An officer opened fire and killed her, Cool said.

The woman in her 20s was pronounced dead at the scene as paramedics arrived. She has not been identified.

Tacoma police have been searching the area around Lincoln High School for Wright, who they say is armed with a rifle.

“We know who he is, and we’ll find him,” Cool told The Seattle Times, (http://is.gd/Twz8dM).

The Tacoma police officer who shot the woman is 30 and has been on the force for two years. He will be on paid administrative leave pending investigation of the shooting.

This is Tacoma’s first officer-involved shooting this year.