News

Man wounded in Kent officer-involved shooting

KENT, Wash. — Police shot and wounded a suspected car thief Tuesday morning in Kent, an incident which happened in front of a group of school kids.

The shooting happened on West Smith Street near 64th Avenue South at about 8:30 a.m., investigators told KIRO 7 Eyewitness News.

The Federal Way Police Department -- the agency investigating the shooting -- said police responded to a report of an occupied stolen vehicle at the apartment complex.  Police said a man was trying to leave the area when he was confronted by an officer.

"At that time the officer attempted to stop the suspect and shots were fired by the officer," police said in a news release.

Video from Chopper 7 showed crime scene tape and evidence markers in a parking lot at the Arbor Chase Apartment Homes.

Rosita Gonzales was waiting for the school bus to pick up her 7-year-old son when the incident began.

"I dind't know what the gentleman was about to do, so I took my son and hid around the second bush that's over there," she said. "I seen an officer speed in and block this red car from pulling out. The officer drew his guns out (and) asked the gentleman in the car to put his hands up. He wouldn't follow directions."

That was about the time her son's school bus pulled up.

"We quickly got the children on the bus, and once I started to go back home, I heard two gunshots," she said.

Gonzales watched the suspect speed away.

After fleeing, the suspect crashed into a vehicle and continued to the north end of Kent, police said. Officers found the suspect behind a warehouse and took him into custody.  The 35-year-old Federal Way man was taken to Harborview Medical Center with gunshot wounds.

The man had active felony warrants for two counts of possession of a stolen vehicle, police said.