KENT, WA - According to authorities with the Washington State Patrol (WSP), a man is in custody after shooting a trooper in the leg multiple times during a traffic stop on Friday, February 16th.
Kent Police Department (KPD) Chief Rafael Padilla said that a WSP trooper attempted to make a traffic stop of a suspected DUI driver at Willis Street and Washington Avenue just before 11:00 p.m. Padilla said that the driver fled and crashed into another vehicle at W James Street and Washington Avenue N.
After crashing the vehicle, the suspect got out and ran on foot. The trooper ran after him. The trooper and the suspect were near the Driftwood apartments in Kent, which according to KPD, is where the suspect shot at the trooper.
Padilla said in a statement, "The trooper relayed on the radio that he is in foot pursuit with the suspect, fled from the vehicle and shortly after announced on the radio that he had been shot." The trooper was reportedly transported to Harborview Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries.
WSP Captain Rod Mead said that the 21-year veteran trooper was in serious condition, but the medical center confirmed that he is in the ICU with non-life threatening injuries and is expected to make a full recovery. Authorities said that the trooper was working on emphasis patrol for freeway shootings when he tried stopping the driver suspected of a DUI.
Mead said in a statement, "The violence we're seeing not only on highways but in general is alarming and grateful that the troopers injuries while serious, aren't any worse than they are."
Several agencies, K9 units and air support searched the area for the suspected shooter and found him. He was taken into police custody with minor injuries. According to WSP Public Information Officer Trooper Rick Johnson, the trooper involved did not return fire on the armed suspect.
KPD will be the investigating agency for the officer-involved shooting. Mead said, "We're hopeful that the rest of the criminal justice system will hold him accountable for the conduct he perpetrated."
Hours before the incident, police were investigating a fatal shooting on a metro bus in Kent. Officers were called to reports of a shooting on a King County Metro bus while the bus was in motion. According to Fox 13, the bus pulled over near Central Avenue S and E Gowe Street when a 29-year-old man stepped off the bus and fell to the ground with an apparent gunshot wound.
Police and other first responders attempted live saving measures, but the man ultimately died from his injuries. Another man on the bus suffered minor injuries. That man, a 35-year-old, said that the other man had attacked him on the bus. Preliminary investigations suggest that the 29-year-old approached the other man on the bus and started a fight with him. At one point, police believe that the 35-year-old shot him once.
The alleged gunman is cooperating with detectives. As of this writing, detectives are unsure of what led to the altercation or the relationship between the two men involved.
Kent Police Department (KPD) Chief Rafael Padilla said that a WSP trooper attempted to make a traffic stop of a suspected DUI driver at Willis Street and Washington Avenue just before 11:00 p.m. Padilla said that the driver fled and crashed into another vehicle at W James Street and Washington Avenue N.
After crashing the vehicle, the suspect got out and ran on foot. The trooper ran after him. The trooper and the suspect were near the Driftwood apartments in Kent, which according to KPD, is where the suspect shot at the trooper.
Padilla said in a statement, "The trooper relayed on the radio that he is in foot pursuit with the suspect, fled from the vehicle and shortly after announced on the radio that he had been shot." The trooper was reportedly transported to Harborview Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries.
WSP Captain Rod Mead said that the 21-year veteran trooper was in serious condition, but the medical center confirmed that he is in the ICU with non-life threatening injuries and is expected to make a full recovery. Authorities said that the trooper was working on emphasis patrol for freeway shootings when he tried stopping the driver suspected of a DUI.
Mead said in a statement, "The violence we're seeing not only on highways but in general is alarming and grateful that the troopers injuries while serious, aren't any worse than they are."
Several agencies, K9 units and air support searched the area for the suspected shooter and found him. He was taken into police custody with minor injuries. According to WSP Public Information Officer Trooper Rick Johnson, the trooper involved did not return fire on the armed suspect.
KPD will be the investigating agency for the officer-involved shooting. Mead said, "We're hopeful that the rest of the criminal justice system will hold him accountable for the conduct he perpetrated."
Hours before the incident, police were investigating a fatal shooting on a metro bus in Kent. Officers were called to reports of a shooting on a King County Metro bus while the bus was in motion. According to Fox 13, the bus pulled over near Central Avenue S and E Gowe Street when a 29-year-old man stepped off the bus and fell to the ground with an apparent gunshot wound.
Police and other first responders attempted live saving measures, but the man ultimately died from his injuries. Another man on the bus suffered minor injuries. That man, a 35-year-old, said that the other man had attacked him on the bus. Preliminary investigations suggest that the 29-year-old approached the other man on the bus and started a fight with him. At one point, police believe that the 35-year-old shot him once.
The alleged gunman is cooperating with detectives. As of this writing, detectives are unsure of what led to the altercation or the relationship between the two men involved.
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Comments
2024-02-22T08:08+0530 | Comment by: elaine
God be with that Trooper and I hope he makes a quick and full recovery. As for the jerk that shot the trooper he needs to be executed.
2024-02-23T00:26+0530 | Comment by: Kent
Fire on Law Enforcement demands the death penalty.