13th Tacoma Homicide of 2022: Steven Elmendorf
It was just after 6pm on the evening of March 16, 2022 when someone called 9-1-1 to report that there was a fistfight between two individuals in the 7000 block of East B Street. Before the police arrived, the fistfight erupted in a gunfight when one of them pulled a gun and shot the other one in the torso. Steven Elmendorf, 61 was transported to an area hospital with a gunshot wound and later died becoming the thirteenth Tacoma homicide of 2022.
Steven’s murder was one of two that occurred that night. And occurred during a time when Tacoma was experiencing an unprecedented wave of violent crime. This resulted in a lack of media coverage for the death of Steven.
Steven was a family man and was especially close with his adult daughter, Yvonne. I wasn’t able to find out much about his life which is common with people who do not have a significant online presence.
One of the reasons I began this site is because I believe that these losses should have more than just a simple two paragraph article that barely even mentions the victim’s name or puts what they have behind a paywall.
It’s all too easy to see the tiny article in the paper and ignore it as just another crime, but for one family it’s a moment that shattered their world. Friends and family of Steven will never be the same. And yet the rest of the world seemingly behaves as if it didn’t happen at all.
The comment section is reserved for friends and family of Steven who want to share thoughts or memories of him.
- Jack Cameron
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