18th Tacoma Homicide of 2022: Taape Nunu
It was 10:47pm on April 28, 2022 when police received calls of multiple gunshots fired and cars speeding away from the 500 block of East 34th Street. When first responders arrived they found shell casings and a car that had crashed into two parked cars. Inside the car was 41-year-old Taape Nunu with a life-threatening gunshot wound to his head. He was taken to St. Joseph’s hospital where he died a week later becoming the 18th Tacoma homicide of 2022.
I wasn’t able to find out much about Taape’s personal life. He had a substantial criminal history, but judging someone by the worst things they’ve done isn’t how we do things at TacomaStories. While I can’t tell you any specifics of Taape’s life, I can tell you he had people who loved him who even now, over a year later are utterly changed by his loss.
This is the second homicide in a row where someone was shot later at night on a Tacoma street in their car. While there is nothing I’m aware of connecting the two cases, these crimes are emblematic of the overall rise in violent crime in Tacoma in 2022. In the early 2000s it was common to have less than 18 homicides in an entire year. In 2022 we had that amount in just the first four months of the year. Tacoma is growing and that growth includes skyrocketing rents and increased violent crime. Taape Nunu’s murder is easy for the media to ignore in such an environment and they largely did. What few articles I could find said very little.
As always, the comment section is reserved for those who knew Taape Nunu and want to share thoughts or memories of him.
- Jack Cameron
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