PUYALLUP — Police in Washington said Tuesday they have made an arrest in a teenager’s fatal shooting last month, after their initial response to the case highlighted questions about the state’s sweeping new police reform laws.
Franklin Thananga, 16, was shot to death in a department store parking lot near Puyallup, southeast of Tacoma, the night of July 28. Witnesses told Pierce County sheriff’s deputies that the suspect, dressed in a black shirt and black pants, ran off across the parking lot and behind another store.
A deputy with a police dog arrived within minutes of the shooting, but the deputy declined to use the dog to track the suspect, and other officers who searched the area came up empty. In social media posts, the sheriff’s office suggested that because of a new law that changed when police can use force, the K9 handler “was unable to track with his K9 to search for the suspect who was seen fleeing by witnesses.”
That statement upset activists and relatives of those killed by police, who accused the sheriff’s office — along with other departments across the state — of a “disinformation campaign” aimed at undermining support for the reforms. They noted that some departments had also claimed the new laws might hinder their ability to respond to “community care” calls or mental health crises — something a recent memo from the state attorney general’s office dispelled.
