Tacoma College Student Shot Dead -- Two Others Injured In Unprovoked Attack On Car

TACOMA - A 19-year-old college student, described by police as "a totally innocent victim," was shot to death and two other people were wounded in an unprovoked attack early yesterday on a car carrying five youths, police say.

The man killed, Corey T. Pittman of Tacoma, was home on a break from Alabama State University, Tacoma Police spokesman Jim Mattheis said. Just days before, Pittman's brother had been shot to death in Minneapolis, Mattheis said.

Mattheis said he did not have further details of the brother's death, and Pittman's relatives declined to discuss it yesterday.

Mattheis said Pittman and four other young people were riding in the car at about 1:10 a.m. when it turned off South Sprague Street onto South 15th Street in the Hilltop area.

"All of a sudden they were fired upon," Mattheis said.

The assailant apparently sprayed the car with bullets from an assault rifle, littering the street with shell casings, he said.

The 20-year-old man driving the car received multiple gunshot wounds and was taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. An 18-year-old woman who was riding in the front seat received a single gunshot wound and was taken to St. Joseph Hospital in Tacoma. Both were in stable condition yesterday, Mattheis said.

A 17-year-old girl, also a passenger, was injured when the car crashed as the driver was trying to get away, he said.

Names of the injured were being withheld until relatives could be notified.

However, Mattheis said the male was a longtime friend of Pittman's who also attended Alabama State.

Pittman "appears to be a totally innocent victim," who had gone to a movie with friends, Mattheis said.

"From what they're telling us, they just turned onto the street and just got lit up, basically," he said, adding that none of the young people in the car had gang ties, and all were either employed or going to school.

"It appears to be a totally unprovoked attack," he said.

A Pierce County patrol car chased a vehicle that was similar to one described as a suspect car, but the occupants were questioned and then released, Mattheis said.

Police have no suspects or leads. Detectives went door to door in the neighborhood yesterday, seeking witnesses or other information, Mattheis said.

"We're basically at ground zero," he said. "We need help."

Pittman's mother, Katheryne Pittman, said Corey was a hard-working youth who had never been in trouble.

He had been saving for college since he was 11 years old and had just completed his sophomore year at Alabama State, she said.

Mattheis described the family as being "very distraught."

"This was a young kid that they thought had everything going for him," he said.

"He had some real goals and was accomplishing them."