Police are investigating a report of a shot fired at the intersection of Union Avenue and South Tacoma Way Sunday night.

According to police scanner chatter, the shot was reported around 9 p.m. The caller, who was driving a blue Pontiac Grand Prix down Union Avenue, was cut off by two cars. The occupants of the two vehicles, a 1989 black Mercedes two-door and a white 2004 Ford Taurus or Dodge Intrepid, then got out of their cars and shot at the caller.

The number of shots fired or who fired is unclear.

A 32-year-old Western State Hospital patient killed himself in the Pierce County Jail this afternoon while being held there on attempted murder charges, Pierce County Sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer said.

The man, whose identity was not released, hung himself with a towel, Troyer said.
Corrections officers called paramedics when they found the hanged man at about 1:20 p.m., but he could not be revived.

He was being held on suspicion of second-degree attempted murder after he choked a psychiatrist at the state mental hospital, Troyer said.

The man was booked into the jail on Wednesday, Troyer said.

A 29-year-old Seattle man was sentenced Friday in federal court in Seattle to 12 years in prison for cocaine trafficking. Cedric Barquet was arrested in 2008 as part of a year-long drug and gang investigation called “Operation Clean Ride.” The investigation derived its name from the fact that the gang leaders operated out a South Seattle car detail business.

Read the complete news release issued Friday from the United States Attorney’s Office in Seattle:

CEDRIC BARQUET, 29, of Seattle, Washington, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 12 years in prison and five years of supervised

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A 27-year-old Federal Way man was sentenced Friday to over four years in federal court in Seattle for possession of a firearm. Christopher Yarbrough was arrested in Burien after a semi-automatic pistol fell from his waistband as he fled from King County Sheriff deputies in 2008. Yarbrough has prior drug, burglary and robbery convictions.

Read the complete news release issued Friday from the United States Attorney’s Office in Seattle:

CHRISTOPHER THOMAS YARBROUGH, 27, of Federal Way, Washington was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 51 months in prison and three years of supervised release for being

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A service to commemorate the life of Jennifer Paulson is scheduled for noon Tuesday at Life Center Church at 1717 S. Union Ave., Tacoma.

The public is invited.

News Tribune reporters Kris Sherman and Debbie Cafazzo are compiling a profile of Jennifer Paulson, who was killed this morning outside Birney Elementary School.

Learn more about Paulson here.

Birney Elementary School will be closed Monday because of today’s fatal shooting of a teacher.

Teachers and staff members will be on campus with a crisis counseling team, preparing for students to return on Tuesday, district spokesman Dan Voelpel said.

Jennifer Paulson’s father, Ken Paulson, and her stepmother, Cindy Paulson, appeared at the school late this morning.

Ken said: “She was a kind, merciful, loving person. That’s probably why she was a special ed teacher, because she loved so much. What happened today was evil, a terrible thing. Jennifer would want you to know she loved the Lord and she’s in heaven with her grandparents. I think Jennifer would say the world is getting more evil and the person who did this was evil.”

The father says his daughter and her killer never dated; the man knew her from working …

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