The shootout prompted reform of the Tacoma Police Department toward community-oriented policing after national attention exposed its passive response to crime.
Key Facts
- Date
- September 23, 1989
- Location
- Hilltop neighborhood, Tacoma, Washington
- Rangers involved
- Approximately 12
- Opposing individuals
- 15 to 20
- Rounds fired
- 100 to 300 rounds
- Duration of gunfight
- 5 to 30 minutes
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Tension had been building in the Hilltop neighborhood of Tacoma between Army Rangers, led by Staff Sergeant Bill Foulk, and neighbors suspected of drug dealing and gang activity. Foulk and others had been pressing for greater police intervention against drug crime, and a barbecue at Foulk's home brought both groups into close proximity, with each accusing the other of harassment.
Starting at 9:20 p.m. on September 23, 1989, approximately 12 Rangers and 15 to 20 people from across the street exchanged gunfire with handguns and long guns on Ash Street. Between 100 and 300 rounds were fired over five to thirty minutes before police arrived and ended the confrontation. No injuries were officially reported, though Foulk later claimed some on the opposing side may have been shot and fled.
Two suspects were arrested, and one was convicted of second-degree assault. The incident drew national attention and spurred local community organizing. Most significantly, it accelerated reform within the Tacoma Police Department, shifting the agency away from a policy of responding only to personally witnessed crimes and toward a community-oriented policing model.