A man at a Kent apartment complex reportedly fired seven shots after Kent Police responded to the scene and an officer fired nine shots during the gunfire exchange.
The details were revealed by the Valley Independent Investigative Team, as part of its weekly press release update about the Aug. 28 officer-involved shooting at the Madison Plaza Apartments, 102 Madison Ave.
Christian Demetri Moshofsky, 33, died from a gunshot wound of head, according to the King County Medical Examiner’s Office, which ruled the death a homicide. He died at the scene.
The officer involved is a 24-year-old man who has been with the Kent Police Department since November 2022, according to the press release. He is the only officer who fired his weapon. He used a department-issued rifle, a Colt M4LE, which has a 5.56 caliber.
No officers were injured.
During a search of an upper-floor apartment at the seven-story complex, officers recovered a Ruger 5.7 semi-automatic pistol, according to the Valley Independent Investigative Team, a multi-agency team of investigators from eight law enforcement agencies (Auburn, Des Moines, Federal Way, Kent, King County Sheriff’s Office, Renton, Port of Seattle and Tukwila). With Kent Police as the involved agency, its staff has been excluded from the investigation.
“At this point in the investigation, it is believed seven shots were fired from the apartment while the officers were on scene,” according to the press release. “The officer is believed to have fired nine rounds.”
Officers responded at about 12:35 a.m. to the apartments after a 911 caller reported sounds of six to seven gunshots being fired, according to a Aug. 28 Kent Police news release. The complex, which opened in 2022, sits just east of Highway 167.
“There were only two officers initially on scene and due to the area where they parked, neither of their police vehicles were struck by bullets,” according to the report.
The officers arrived on scene at approximately 12:35 a.m. and the involved officer fired his duty weapon at 12:41 a.m., according to press release.
Kent officers arrived on scene and exited their patrol vehicles to search the area, according to the media update. While on foot, the officers heard more gunshots and believed they were being fired upon by a subject from an upper floor unit in an apartment complex. One officer returned fire towards the subject.
Additional officers arrived on scene to clear the apartment and located Moshofsky on the floor inside the unit. Lifesaving measures were performed, but Moshofsky died at the scene.
The Valley Independent Investigation Team will eventually deliver its case to the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office for review and determination of charges against the officer, if any.
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