MILL CREEK — A man died Friday after being wounded during an early morning police shooting, officials said.
The man, 33, was well known to local police, Snohomish County sheriff’s spokeswoman Rebecca Hover said. His identity was not immediately released.
A Mill Creek police officer opened fire during an apparent car prowl in the Highlands South neighborhood near the Mill Creek Country Club, Hover said.
Officers were in the 2600 block of 163rd Place SE about 3:30 a.m. when the call “shots fired” went out over police radios, she said.
A man with gunshot wounds was treated at the scene and taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where he died.
The man who died had made his home in Snohomish County but moved around frequently. His last hometown was not immediately known, Hover said.
Officers said they were familiar with the man.
“They have come across him before,” Hover said. She wouldn’t say if he had a criminal history.
Early Friday, neighbors heard a commotion, screeching tires and shouts coming from police officers.
Police shouted, “‘We have our guns drawn. Get your hands out of the car,’” said Tony Winkler who was up late playing video games when the incident played out near his home.
Another neighbor, Sherry Hornsby, heard what she believes were two shots.
“I was, like, ‘Wow,’” she said. “I’ve never heard that before, thank God.”
Winkler said the area, protected by a neighborhood crime watch, has been hit with break-ins and property crimes before.
“This is a pretty high-crime area for car prowlers,” he said.
The city has seen a recent decrease in car prowls, Mill Creek police spokesman Steve Winters said.
Still, property left behind in cars can be magnets for criminals, he said.
“Car prowls are a problem in any city,” Winters said.
Hover said it’s too early for detectives to say what connection, if any, the car prowl had with the shooting.
“It’s going to be some time before they put together all the pieces of the puzzle,” she said.
Hover said she couldn’t comment on an apparently stolen car parked in Cecil Brooks’ driveway Friday morning.
Brooks said he walked down the street to alert police about the SUV blocking his garage. Officers told him there might be a connection to the shooing.
Police also would not discuss a large black pickup that apparently sped across lawns before smashing into parked cars in someone’s driveway.
While detectives said they could not yet say with certainty who did what at the scene, they are not looking for another shooter and they do not believe neighbors are in any danger, Hover said.
“There are quite a few pieces of this puzzle to sort out,” she said.
Detectives spent much of Friday processing the scene.
The Mill Creek officer who fired his gun is a 20-year-veteran. As is routine after an officer-involved shooting, he was placed on paid leave during the investigation, Hover said.
The Snohomish County Multi-Agency Response Team, a special team of detectives who are called after officer-involved shootings, is leading the investigation.
The Snohomish County Medical Examiner is expected to conduct an autopsy.
“I feel bad for the guy,” Brooks said. “But, you know, if you play with fire, you’re going to get burned.”
Reporter Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3437 or jholtz@heraldnet.com.
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