Man points gun at officer, is shot, police say
STACEY MULICK; The News Tribune
Published: November 29th, 2007 08:02 AM
A man was critically injured Wednesday night when he pointed a handgun at a Tacoma police officer and was shot, Tacoma police reported.
The man was taken to Madigan Army Medical Center for treatment of life-threatening injuries, Tacoma police spokesman Mark Fulghum said. The man had surgery overnight and was expected to survive his injuries, Fulghum said Thursday morning.
No officers were injured.
Officers were called to an apartment in the 900 block of North Pearl Street just before 9:30 p.m. Wednesday for some sort of disturbance, Fulghum said.
Witnesses told two officers where the suspect was living, an apartment near where the incident took place. The officers went to the suspect’s apartment, looked through an outside window and saw the suspect holding a handgun inside, Fulghum said.
The partners backed away from the window and called for backup. One officer backed around a corner but had the suspect’s apartment in view. The second officer, a 40-year-old with nearly 14 years on the force, went down the starts and took cover behind a tree, Fulghum said.
“He had a good view of the front of the apartment and had good view of his partner,” he said.
Moments later, the man came out of the home and pointed the gun at the officer behind the corner, Fulghum said.
“They were backed out and waiting for assistance when he popped out of there,” he said.
The 40-year-old officer behind the tree fired two to three shots at the man, injuring him, Fulghum said. No one else was in the apartment at the time and no one else was involved in the shooting.
Paramedics took the man to Madigan for treatment.
The officers were interviewed by detectives. Investigators also talked to neighbors. Pierce County prosecutors responded to the scene, which is standard procedure when there is an officer-involved shooting.
Fulghum said after a preliminary investigation, it appeared the officer who fired his gun acted within department guidelines. Criminal and internal investigations into the shooting were continuing.
The officers’ names have not yet been released.
