1st Tacoma Homicide of 2024: Rhoda Butler
It isn’t easy getting older. Parts of your body don’t work as well as they used to and that includes your mind. This makes things difficult because you can’t trust yourself and seeming contradictions make it difficult for you to know who you can trust and when you can trust them. I didn’t know 61-year-old Rhoda Butler, but I’ve known people with dementia and Rhoda Butler was suffering from dementia on the morning of January 9, 2024.
A little before 7:30am that morning neighbors in the 4000 block of South Bell Street heard yelling. One reported hearing cars running into each other. And then there were gunshots. Rhoda had a gun in her hand and was firing off rounds. That’s when neighbors called the police.
When police arrived they report that she pointed the gun at them and then shut the door to her home. This was not the first time police had been at this address. Her dementia had gotten out of hand before. And so Tacoma police tried to locate an officer who had successfully talked her down before.
Details of what exactly occurred between Rhoda and the SWAT team have not been released to the public. What is known is that at 9:41am, a little more than two hours after the first phone call to police, the SWAT team reported firing shots.
Rhoda died of gunshot wounds becoming the first Tacoma homicide of 2024.
I cannot imagine the terror Rhoda must have felt in her final hours of life. The entire world probably seemed upside down with no way out. And I have tremendous sympathy for her friends and family.
I also understand the danger to the community a person with dementia and a gun poses. Without more details as to what exactly happened during those two hours, it’s impossible to say what more could have been done that cold January morning to save Rhoda’s life. What we do know is that a loving mother and grandmother is forever gone.
To say that Rhoda was not who she was on her last day is a simple truth. Her family and friends know that. Like I said, I didn’t know Rhoda. I can’t tell you too much about her life. That’s why the comment section is reserved for friends and family of Rhoda who want to share thoughts or memories of her. (All other comments will be deleted.)
- Jack Cameron