A 46-year-old Kent Police officer shot and wounded a 35-year-old Federal Way man after responding to a report of a man in a stolen car at about 8:30 a.m. Tuesday at the Arbor Chase Apartments, 1615 W. Smith St.
The driver started to leave the area and was confronted by an officer, according to a Kent Police media release. At that time the officer attempted to stop the man and shots were fired by the officer.
“He was shot once in each leg,” said Stan McCall, spokesman for the Federal Way Police, which has taken over the shooting investigation since the incident involved a Kent officer.
Paramedics transported the man to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where he was treated for a broken leg but is expected to recover, McCall said.
After the officer fired shots, the man drove away and crashed into an occupied car near the apartments. The two people in that car were treated and released at a local hospital.
The driver then headed about 1 mile north and abandoned the vehicle behind a warehouse in North Kent. Officers found the man and took him into custody.
A records check showed the man has felony warrants for two counts of possession of a stolen vehicle.
McCall said the man is under guard at the hospital by King County Sheriff’s Office deputies because of the warrants.
The Kent officer has 21 years of law enforcement experience. He has been placed on paid administrative leave, a common step after a shooting.
McCall said he was unsure of the total number of shots fired or the reasons the officer decided to fire the shots. He also did not know if the officer fired shots into the vehicle or if the man had stepped outside of it.
“That’s all part of the overall investigation,” McCall said. “Detectives are interviewing witnesses to get a clearer picture of what occurred. The focus of the investigation will be why the shots were fired and what transpired.”
Detectives had not yet interviewed the officer on Tuesday.
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