Kent Police involved in an officer-involved shooting

Kent Police were involved in an officer-involved shooting Sunday evening, June 26, although nobody was hit and no officers were injured.

A Kent resident contacted the Kent Reporter about a large police response near the Alderbrook Apartments, 412 Novak Lane. The resident didn’t know what happened, but reported numerous police vehicles on the scene, a temporary closure of the BNSF Railway tracks by officers and yellow police tape put up in a wooded area near the apartments, which are just east of the railroad tracks.

Kent Police Assistant Chief Jarod Kasner confirmed the shooting in response to a Kent Reporter email for details about the incident.

“Kent was involved in an officer-involved shooting,” Kasner said in a June 27 email. “No one was hit and no officers were injured. The Valley Independent Investigation Team was called in to conduct the investigation, they will be handling the media inquiries.”

Kasner declined to give any other details about the incident. As of Monday afternoon, the investigation team has not released any details about the shooting.

The Valley Independent Investigation Team includes members of the Auburn, Des Moines, Federal Way, Kent, Port of Seattle, Renton and Tukwila police departments.

When a Valley police agency is involved in a shooting, one of the other departments leads an investigation into the shooting and the involved agency isn’t part of the investigation. The team gradually releases information to the public about the shooting.

This marks the second officer-involved shooting by Kent Police in June. On June 13, Kent Police fatally shot a man inside a vehicle in the 25200 block of Pacific Highway South, near Fred Meyer. That incident remains under investigation by the Valley team.