EVERETT — Police killed a person suspected of shooting an Everett police officer in the head Wednesday morning on Evergreen Way, according to investigators.
Around 3:10 a.m., Everett police responded to reports of a robbery with a weapon near Safeway in the 7600 block of Evergreen Way, according to the Snohomish County Multiple Agency Response Team, the task force of law enforcement that investigates police use of force. The team is also known as SMART.
Multiple suspects fled the scene. Everett officers searched for them, according to SMART.
Officers found one suspect in the 8600 block of Evergreen Way, near Fred Meyer. As one officer approached in his patrol car, the person allegedly fired multiple shots at the cruiser, shooting the officer in the head, SMART reported.
A fellow officer took the wounded officer to Providence Regional Medical Center Everett in a patrol car, according to fire officials. The officer was in stable condition Wednesday morning, according to authorities.
The suspected shooter fled across the street. Another Everett police officer confronted the person and shot them, said SMART spokesperson Courtney O’Keefe. The person died at the scene.
No other injuries were reported.
SMART was at the scene investigating Wednesday morning. Evergreen Way was closed from Casino Road to Holly Drive. O’Keefe told reporters the road would likely remain closed for most of the day.
Police reportedly had not found the three other suspects in the initial robbery Wednesday morning.
Late Wednesday afternoon, Everett police Chief Dan Templeman issued a statement about the injured officer, who underwent emergency medical treatment.
“This morning a member of our Everett police family was senselessly shot while investigating a robbery complaint in south Everett,” Templeman wrote. “Both Mayor Cassie Franklin and I have the utmost respect and admiration for the difficult and dangerous work our law enforcement professionals perform, day in and day out. Our focus right now is on supporting our officer and his family as he recovers from his injuries but ask our entire community to please keep not only our officer and his family in their thoughts, but all members of the Everett Police Department.”
Eddie Hemp, owner of Fast Eddie’s Tire Pros near Fred Meyer on Evergreen Way, said police came to take footage from his security cameras.
Hemp said the footage appeared to show the suspect fleeing the scene on what initially looked like a skateboard while shooting back at police.
A black scooter was seen next to the body across the street.
Hemp has owned his family business for 42 years. In that time, crime has only gotten worse, he said. When he goes into work every morning, his first instinct is to “watch your back, turn around, and lock the door.”
More than four hours after the shooting, a body remained covered on the ground in the parking lot of a nearby restaurant — visible to about a half dozen children who stood wearing backpacks on Holly Drive.
This is the second fatal shooting involving Everett police this month. On March 11, an Everett officer and a Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy shot and killed Charles Hubbard outside his home during a SWAT investigation.
And the shooting of an Everett police officer comes almost exactly a year after officer Dan Rocha was shot and killed in a Starbucks parking lot on Broadway. The alleged killer, Richard Rotter, is on trial this month in Snohomish County Superior Court.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Jake Goldstein-Street: 425-339-3439; jake.goldstein-street@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @GoldsteinStreet.
Maya Tizon 425-339-3434; maya.tizon@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @mayatizon.
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