EDMONDS — An Edmonds police officer exchanged gunfire with a man early Thursday, shooting the suspect in the arm.
The man, an Edmonds resident in his 40s, was taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle and is expected to survive, Snohomish County sheriff’s spokeswoman Rebecca Hover said. The officer was not hurt.
“We’re all very relieved the officer wasn’t injured. This could have been a real tragedy,” Hover said.
The officer was on patrol about 1 a.m. in the 22100 block of Highway 99 when he tried to stop and question a man in a parking lot behind the Traveler’s Inn, Hover said.
“The officer was doing his job. He was patrolling the area,” she said. “It’s not unusual to talk to someone at 1 a.m. in the morning in a parking lot, to stop and talk to them and find out what they’re doing.”
The man allegedly reached for a gun and the officer opened fire, Hover said. The man tried to run away and shots were exchanged between the officer and the man before the man was stopped, she said.
Highway 99 was shut down for several hours as police scoured the area for evidence.
The officer, 31, has worked for Edmonds police for seven years and was placed on leave during the investigation.
The Snohomish County Multiple Agency Response Team is investigating, standard procedure after an officer-involved shooting.
Thursday morning’s shooting is the second officer-involved shooting for Edmonds police in just over a week.
On Oct. 18, an Edmonds police sergeant and a King County deputy shot a suspected armed robber after a chase that stretched into Seattle. The man was charged Tuesday with first-degree robbery, attempting to elude police, unlawful possession of a firearm and two counts of second-Âdegree assault. That incident began at Andy’s Motel, next door to where Thursday’s shooting occurred.
“The motels on Highway 99 are a constant source of activity for us,” Edmonds police Sgt. Don Anderson said. “Illegal activity is often going in and out of those places and has been for years.”
The man shot by police early Thursday likely will be booked into the Snohomish County Jail after he’s released from the hospital.
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