Seventeenth Tacoma Homicide of 2016: Bruce Randall Johnson II
38-year-old Bruce Randall Johnson II did not have a good day on November 30th. He had been fired from his job as a barber and Sam & Terry's barber shop up on Tacoma's Hilltop where he had worked for the last eight months. He had gotten into an argument with his wife in which he had locked her out of the house they shared in the 400 block of East 52nd Street. When police knocked on the door he did not answer. When the landlord unlocked the door, he and his two children, an eight-year-old daughter and a six-year-old son, were on the third floor. When a police officer came up the stairs, Bruce opened fire, killing him.
It is unknown what exactly caused Bruce to behave the way he did on November 30th. In recent weeks friends and coworkers say he had become increasingly volatile. In mid-November he was spotted dressed as a plainclothes police officer at the Tacoma Mall, wearing a Sheriff's cap and carrying a rifle case. He had been fired from the barbershop for altercations with customers and disagreements with staff.
Multiple people who knew him called said that Bruce was 'troubled'. We will likely never know the mental state he was in or what caused him to take the actions that he did. We do know that there were people who enjoyed his company.
During the eleven hour standoff, Bruce would refuse to leave the house, at times using his children as human shields, at other times firing his guns at unknown targets. At one point his son was near the front door and a SWAT team member removed him from the house. Near 3:30am, a Pierce County Sheriff's Deputy outside the house fired one round through a window killing Bruce Johnson.
Bruce Johnson is the seventeenth Tacoma homicide this year and the second police involved shooting this year. TacomaStories treats police involved shootings like we treat any other homicides. This is because we operate under the concept that no one should be judged by their worst actions alone.
As always the comments section is moderated and reserved for those who knew Bruce and want to share thoughts of memories of him.
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- Jack Cameron