TACOMA, WA – The Washington State Patrol is mourning the loss of Trooper Tara-Marysa Guting, who was killed Friday evening after being struck by a vehicle while on duty in Tacoma.

WSP officials said Trooper Guting, 29, was standing outside her patrol car investigating a two-vehicle collision just before 7:30 p.m. on southbound State Route 509 near milepost 2, south of the Port of Tacoma, when she was struck by another vehicle. Individuals at the scene rendered aid, but Guting later died from her injuries. The Tacoma Police Department is investigating the incident.

Trooper Guting joined the Washington State Patrol as a trooper cadet in January 2024 and graduated with the 119th Trooper Basic Training Class. She was commissioned on Oct. 30, 2024, and served in WSP District 1 in Tacoma.

She is survived by her husband, Timothy, a deputy state fire marshal at the Washington State Patrol Fire Training Academy in North Bend.

Guting was born July 19, 1996, in Honolulu, Hawaii, to Russell and Cheryl Hirata. She attended Mililani High School in Mililani, Hawaii, graduating in 2014. She later enlisted in the Army National Guard on Oct. 22, 2014, serving honorably as a signal intelligence analyst until Oct. 21, 2022.

She married Timothy on Aug. 21, 2019, at the Fire Training Academy.

Her death marks the 34th time in the Washington State Patrol’s 105-year history that the agency has lost a trooper in the line of duty.

“My heartfelt condolences go out to Timothy, Tara’s extended family, her friends, her academy classmates, to District 1 Captain Gundermann, and his entire team,” WSP Chief John R. Batiste said in a statement. “We will never forget Badge #720 – Trooper Tara-Marysa Guting.”