9th Tacoma Homicide of 2022: Steven 'Huck' Wohlwend II
On the evening of February 24, 2022 police received reports of a man with a gun accosting people near the Marriott Hotel at 1515 Commerce Street around 10:45pm. When they arrived, they talked to a valet who told them a man pointed a gun at him and tried to rob him. Police began a search including K-9 dogs. By 11:20pm, their search led to Dock Street near the 11th Street Bridge where they encountered 31-year-old Steven 'Huck' Wohlwend II. They radioed that they had him at gunpoint, but police reports say Huck refused to remove his hands from his pockets. Less than a minute later, a five-year female veteran of the Tacoma Police Department opened fire hitting Huck in the torso. Officers on the scene attempted CPR until the paramedics arrived. Huck later died at a local hospital from his injuries becoming Tacoma’s ninth Tacoma homicide of 2022.
This is the first Tacoma police involved shooting of 2022.
Huck loved the water. He spent countless hours fishing for salmon in the Puget Sound with friends, rescuing boaters who needed it, and duck hunting with his black labs and his father.
He also created a couple of small businesses: Huck’s Hoochies, selling fishing lures and a skim board business called Sound Side Skims.
In addition to his fishing pole the other item you could often find with Huck was his guitar. He liked to write and play songs for friends and family. He had a quick wit and a corny sense of humor that would get as many eyerolls and laughs.
Like so many of us, Huck struggled with personal demons. We may never know the exact circumstances that led Huck to his death, but we do know his actions that night did not define who he was as a person or who he was to his loved ones.
As of this writing, the use of deadly force by TPD against Huck is still an open investigation.
If you knew Huck and want to share thoughts or memories of him, please do so in the comment section or email me at jackcameronis@gmail.com.
- Jack Cameron
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