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Seattle officer killed; police searching for suspects
Seattle police are searching for suspects in the fatal shooting of a police officer shortly after 10 p.m. Saturday near the intersection of 29th Avenue and East Yesler Way.
By Steve Miletich and Jennifer Sullivan
Seattle Times staff reporters
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A police car was draped in a white blanket Saturday night on the corner of 29th Avenue and East Yesler Way.
Enlarge this photo
CLIFF DESPEAUX
A police car was draped in a white blanket Saturday night on the corner of 29th Avenue and East Yesler Way.
Patrick Kane, a Seattle resident who lives close to the shooting, takes a moment to reflect after setting up incense and candles on the corner of Yesler and 30th Ave, one block east of the scene.
Enlarge this photo
CLIFF DESPEAUX
Patrick Kane, a Seattle resident who lives close to the shooting, takes a moment to reflect after setting up incense and candles on the corner of Yesler and 30th Ave, one block east of the scene.
An officer leaves the scene of the fatal shooting Saturday night.
Enlarge this photo
CLIFF DESPEAUX / THE SEATTLE TIMES
An officer leaves the scene of the fatal shooting Saturday night.
Related
* Central District News | Seattle Police Officer Murdered at 29th & Yesler
Seattle police are searching for suspects in the fatal shooting of a police officer shortly after 10 p.m. Saturday near the intersection of 29th Avenue and East Yesler Way.
The dead officer was identified as a male field-training officer, who was with a female student officer, Seattle police said. Their names were not released as of this morning.
The officer was 39 and lived in Marysville, according to a law-enforcement source. He had been with the department nearly nine years.
The two were parked in a patrol car in the 100 block of 29th Avenue South, with the student officer in the driver's seat, when a small, light-colored sedan pulled up next to their car and someone fired multiple shots at the officers, police said.
The male officer was struck multiple times, police said.
"The officer was murdered," said Assistant Police Chief Jim Pugel.
The student officer was able to get out of the police car and fire several shots at the sedan as it fled, police said. She also called for additional officers.
The student officer was treated for minor injuries, including a bullet wound to her back, at Harborview Medical Center.
Law enforcement sources say the woman has been out of the police academy and in field training for about a month.
Investigators tentatively have concluded that a rifle was fired at the officers, according to a Seattle police source briefed on the matter.
The shooting was apparently random and a "flat-out ... execution," the source said.
The training officer and the trainee were discussing a traffic stop they had just completed when they were surprised by gunfire, another law enforcement source said. The traffic stop does not appear to have anything to do with the gunfire, the source said.
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Kent Holt, 28, was attending a Halloween party near the shooting scene and was outside on the deck of a multiplex when he heard "at least 10" gunshots. He said he thought it was fireworks until the street flooded with police cars a short time later.
Investigators have questioned one man in connection with the shooting, but at this point police are only calling him a "person of interest."
That man had been booked into the King County Jail on Friday for threatening police, but was released on bail Saturday. Police questioned him shortly after the shooting and rearrested him or investigation of obstruction, according to a law enforcement source.
Details of the obstruction allegation haven't been released by police or officials with the King County Prosecutor's Office.
Sources said this morning that it's unclear whether the man was even in the area of 29th Avenue and East Yesler Way when the shooting occurred.
Police plan to hold a news conference on the shooting this afternoon.
A suspect vehicle was described as a white or gray Toyota.
A makeshift memorial has been set up at the scene of the shooting with a growing number of bouquets and candles. People stopped by this morning by to pay their respects, some with tears in their eyes.
"It is so senseless" said one man, who explained he came from Beacon Hill.
The last Seattle police officer to die in the line of duty was Joselito "Lito" Barber, 26, who was killed Aug,. 13, 2006, when an SUV driven by Mary Rivas ran a red light and struck his patrol car. Rivas was sentenced to 20 years in prison for vehicular homicide and possession of cocaine in November 2007.
The last Seattle officer to be gunned down was Antonio Terry, 36, who was fatally shot on June 4, 1994, when he stopped to help two men, Quentin Ervin and Eric Smiley, whose vehicle had broken down on an Interstate 5 offramp. Smiley was convicted of first-degree murder and was sentenced to 33 years in prison. Ervin was also convicted of first-degree murder and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Authorities never determined who actually pulled the trigger.
In Seattle, student officers are paired with field training officers in a "job shadow-type role," said police spokesman Sgt. Sean Whitcomb. Student officers generally work in field training for about three and a half months.
"They are deployed throughout the city in different precincts with veteran officers who have been specifically selected for their mentoring and training abilities," Whitcomb said, declining to comment directly on the female officer wounded in the shooting. "[Field-training officers] instruct, guide and evaluate student officers as they learn the ins and outs of urban police work."
Seattle officer killed; police searching for suspects
Seattle police are searching for suspects in the fatal shooting of a police officer shortly after 10 p.m. Saturday near the intersection of 29th Avenue and East Yesler Way.
By Steve Miletich and Jennifer Sullivan
Seattle Times staff reporters
PREV 1 of 3 NEXT
A police car was draped in a white blanket Saturday night on the corner of 29th Avenue and East Yesler Way.
Enlarge this photo
CLIFF DESPEAUX
A police car was draped in a white blanket Saturday night on the corner of 29th Avenue and East Yesler Way.
Patrick Kane, a Seattle resident who lives close to the shooting, takes a moment to reflect after setting up incense and candles on the corner of Yesler and 30th Ave, one block east of the scene.
Enlarge this photo
CLIFF DESPEAUX
Patrick Kane, a Seattle resident who lives close to the shooting, takes a moment to reflect after setting up incense and candles on the corner of Yesler and 30th Ave, one block east of the scene.
An officer leaves the scene of the fatal shooting Saturday night.
Enlarge this photo
CLIFF DESPEAUX / THE SEATTLE TIMES
An officer leaves the scene of the fatal shooting Saturday night.
Related
* Central District News | Seattle Police Officer Murdered at 29th & Yesler
Seattle police are searching for suspects in the fatal shooting of a police officer shortly after 10 p.m. Saturday near the intersection of 29th Avenue and East Yesler Way.
The dead officer was identified as a male field-training officer, who was with a female student officer, Seattle police said. Their names were not released as of this morning.
The officer was 39 and lived in Marysville, according to a law-enforcement source. He had been with the department nearly nine years.
The two were parked in a patrol car in the 100 block of 29th Avenue South, with the student officer in the driver's seat, when a small, light-colored sedan pulled up next to their car and someone fired multiple shots at the officers, police said.
The male officer was struck multiple times, police said.
"The officer was murdered," said Assistant Police Chief Jim Pugel.
The student officer was able to get out of the police car and fire several shots at the sedan as it fled, police said. She also called for additional officers.
The student officer was treated for minor injuries, including a bullet wound to her back, at Harborview Medical Center.
Law enforcement sources say the woman has been out of the police academy and in field training for about a month.
Investigators tentatively have concluded that a rifle was fired at the officers, according to a Seattle police source briefed on the matter.
The shooting was apparently random and a "flat-out ... execution," the source said.
The training officer and the trainee were discussing a traffic stop they had just completed when they were surprised by gunfire, another law enforcement source said. The traffic stop does not appear to have anything to do with the gunfire, the source said.
advertising
Kent Holt, 28, was attending a Halloween party near the shooting scene and was outside on the deck of a multiplex when he heard "at least 10" gunshots. He said he thought it was fireworks until the street flooded with police cars a short time later.
Investigators have questioned one man in connection with the shooting, but at this point police are only calling him a "person of interest."
That man had been booked into the King County Jail on Friday for threatening police, but was released on bail Saturday. Police questioned him shortly after the shooting and rearrested him or investigation of obstruction, according to a law enforcement source.
Details of the obstruction allegation haven't been released by police or officials with the King County Prosecutor's Office.
Sources said this morning that it's unclear whether the man was even in the area of 29th Avenue and East Yesler Way when the shooting occurred.
Police plan to hold a news conference on the shooting this afternoon.
A suspect vehicle was described as a white or gray Toyota.
A makeshift memorial has been set up at the scene of the shooting with a growing number of bouquets and candles. People stopped by this morning by to pay their respects, some with tears in their eyes.
"It is so senseless" said one man, who explained he came from Beacon Hill.
The last Seattle police officer to die in the line of duty was Joselito "Lito" Barber, 26, who was killed Aug,. 13, 2006, when an SUV driven by Mary Rivas ran a red light and struck his patrol car. Rivas was sentenced to 20 years in prison for vehicular homicide and possession of cocaine in November 2007.
The last Seattle officer to be gunned down was Antonio Terry, 36, who was fatally shot on June 4, 1994, when he stopped to help two men, Quentin Ervin and Eric Smiley, whose vehicle had broken down on an Interstate 5 offramp. Smiley was convicted of first-degree murder and was sentenced to 33 years in prison. Ervin was also convicted of first-degree murder and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Authorities never determined who actually pulled the trigger.
In Seattle, student officers are paired with field training officers in a "job shadow-type role," said police spokesman Sgt. Sean Whitcomb. Student officers generally work in field training for about three and a half months.
"They are deployed throughout the city in different precincts with veteran officers who have been specifically selected for their mentoring and training abilities," Whitcomb said, declining to comment directly on the female officer wounded in the shooting. "[Field-training officers] instruct, guide and evaluate student officers as they learn the ins and outs of urban police work."
