Special education teacher killed in Tacoma

Jennifer Paulson, a 30-year-old special education teacher at Birney Elementary School was shot and killed Friday morning in Tacoma, Wash.

“She was a very kind, merciful, loving person,” her father, Ken Paulson, said. “That’s probably why she was a special education teacher – because she loved so much.”

He said Paulson’s killer, Jed R. Waits, had pestered her for years, as the two had known each other since college. Waits’ increasing infatuation caused her to obtain an anti-harassment order in Sept. 20 requiring him not to contact her and to keep 1,000 feet from her school and residence.

Waits shot her multiple times as she entered the school. He was apprehended about 10 miles away and killed by a Pierce County sheriff’s deputy, following a shootout.