A procession of patrol cars accompanies the fallen officer’s body down Yesler Way at 3 a.m. Sunday.
By KOMO Staff
SEATTLE – A Seattle police officer was shot to death and another officer was wounded late Saturday night as they were sitting inside their patrol car in the city’s Central District neighborhood.
The officer who died was a veteran of the department, and the woman who was wounded is a student officer in training, Assistant Police Chief Jim Pugel said.
The two were parked in their patrol car near the intersection of 29th Avenue and East Yesler Way just after 10 p.m. when another vehicle pulled up alongside and someone opened fire on the officers.
 An impromptu memorial for the fallen officer has appeared on the sidewalk near the shooting. |
The training officer, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, was hit several times and died at the scene. His name has not been released.
The student officer, who was in the driver’s seat, received minor injuries. She was able to get out of the patrol car, return fire several times at the shooter’s fleeing vehicle, and call for additional units.
Officers from all precincts responded, as well as homicide detectives and the crime scene investigations unit. Officers scoured the neighborhood for the gunman, but no arrests have been made.
The student officer was rushed to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where she is expected to recover.
A man who lived nearby said he heard eight to ten shots fired, then another volley of about six shots.
The witness said the shots came in rapid-fire succession, like an automatic or semi-automatic weapon. But investigators said they haven’t yet determined what type of firearm was used.
Pugel called the act a “deliberate homicide” and vowed to hunt down whoever is responsible.
“The officers are very upset. This is highly unusual. This is an attack, not only on police officers, but on society as a whole,” he said.
Investigators have been at the scene all night collecting evidence, and fellow officers lined Yesler Way as the fallen officer’s body was driven to the King County Medical Examiner’s office just before 3 a.m.
Police are looking for a car described as a light-colored sedan that drove away from the shooting scene, but no detailed description of the vehicle or suspected shooter was available.
Police aren’t sure if the shooter’s car was hit by the student officer as she returned fire.
This investigation is very much active and ongoing, and is a priority for the Seattle Police Department, officials said.
Information is limited at this time, as it is still early in the investigation. More information is expected to be released Sunday afternoon, said a police spokesman.
The killing is the first line-of-duty death for the department since Officer Joselito Barber was fatally injured in a 2006 crash by a woman who was high on cocaine.
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