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SHORELINE, Wash. — A King County Sheriff’s deputy is out of the hospital after an early morning shootout with someone he was investigating, according to deputies.
The shooting happened just after 2 a.m. Sunday morning outside a Chevron gas station in Shoreline. Chevron is located opposite a busy mall with QFC.
That King County sheriff’s deputy and “subject” both suffered non-life threatening injuries.
The shooting happened on Northeast 145th Street, a busy part of Shoreline, and occupied the attention of detectives for more than 15 hours.
Detectives were working late Sunday, hours after gunshots ripped through the air on this busy stretch of Northeast 145th.
A neighbor who wishes to remain anonymous told us she heard an exchange of about a dozen shots.
“Oh, yes, it was obvious,” said the neighbor. It sounded, she added, “like gunshots, like, you know, like a firefight.”
It was difficult at first to find out where the sound was coming from.
“Well, I understand now that it came from the gas station,” she said.
Because an officer is involved, all KIRO 7 knows is that just after 2 a.m. Sunday morning, a King County Sheriff’s deputy was investigating a suspicious car.
That’s when the deputy and a 34-year-old “subject” got into an argument at the Chevron station. Both men opened fire and hit each other. Other King County deputies and Seattle police swarmed the scene.
Then the King County Independent Force Investigation Team was brought in.
“What’s going to happen now is IFIT Team-KC is applying for the area,” said Meeghan Black, IFIT Team Public Information Officer. “They’re looking for video tapes, for witnesses.”
But Black could not tell us if this is the deputy’s patrol car, nor if this vehicle belonged to the subject or was just caught in the crossfire. The investigation closed this Goodwill for the day; its duty manager was glad the shooting was no worse.
“Well, I’m certainly glad that nobody’s going to die,” said Anthony Poster, a Goodwill manager. “There is always good news. Nobody wants more death.”
“This is typical of this neighborhood,” said the anonymous neighbor. “It doesn’t get any better. It gets worse.”
Business returned to normal at Chevron as soon as the investigators left.
The 34-year-old man being investigated was admitted to Harborview Medical Center. He is in satisfactory condition.
Now that the deputy is out of the hospital, he is on paid administrative leave, as is customary.
There are still several unanswered questions. What was “suspicious” about the vehicle? And why did the meeting turn violent?
KIRO 7 may get those answers later this week.
