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Man Fires at Police and is Fatally Wounded When Police Fire Back

A police response to a shots fired call on Capitol Hill quickly escalated when the suspect shot at officers from an apartment complex window. One officer returned fire with a patrol rifle, fatally wounding him. Fortunately no one else was hurt.

East Precinct officers responded to a call of a single gun shot just after 4 a.m.this morning near 23rd Avenue E and E. John.

When they arrived they were met by a visibly upset woman who told them that the shooting suspect was armed with a rifle in a second floor hallway. The suspect had threatened to kill her.

Officers approached the apartment complex and saw the suspect standing in a second story window holding a rifle. Officers ordered the suspect to drop his weapon and come out of the apartment. The suspect threatened to kill the officers and then attempted to make good on that threat by firing a shot at them. The shot missed. One of the officers returned fire and the suspect fell out of sight.

Officer began working to contain the area around the apartment complex, ordering residents to shelter in place and shutting down streets. SWAT officers responded and made entry into the building.  They found the suspect in second floor hallway and immediately began performing CPR . Seattle Fire medics responded and took over CPR but could not revive the man. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Officers canvased the building and found no other victims. Homicide and CSI detectives are on scene interviewing witnesses and gathering evidence.

The officer who fired the fatal shot will be placed on administrative leave per department policy.

It is unclear at this early point in the investigation what the relationship was between the woman and the suspect.

The only information about the suspect is that he is an adult male. Any details regarding the suspect’s identity will be released by the King County Medical Examiner.

When additional details are available or if any information changes during the course of the investigation, we will update this post.