Updated

Updated · The Seattle Times · Aug 13

Seattle Police Arrest 3 After Gunfire Hits Undercover Car, Triggering Pursuit and Crash

Updated

Updated · The Seattle Times · Aug 13

Seattle Police Arrest 3 After Gunfire Hits Undercover Car, Triggering Pursuit and Crash

Q: How did a routine undercover operation in Seattle escalate into a dangerous high-speed chase and an attempted carjacking?

The undercover operation escalated when plainclothes Seattle officers, following a dark-colored vehicle linked to another investigation near Martin Luther King Jr. Way South and South Cloverdale Street, came under gunfire from someone inside that vehicle. The shots struck the unmarked police car multiple times, but no officers were hit, and police said officers did not return fire. After the shooting, the suspect vehicle sped away, triggering a pursuit through South Seattle. The chase ended near 51st Avenue South and South Ryan Street when the fleeing vehicle, later identified by police as stolen from South King County, crashed into another car. The crash created the next escalation point. Police said all three occupants ran from the wreck on foot, and one of them tried to carjack another driver while attempting to escape. An officer intervened before the carjacking could be completed, and all three suspects were arrested. Investigators later recovered a rifle and a handgun from the suspect vehicle. Four people were hospitalized: two suspects, the driver of the car hit in the crash, and an officer injured during the arrest. Police said those injuries were tied to the crash and struggle during the arrests, not to gunfire. Authorities have also said the person they were originally trying to locate does not appear to have been in the suspect vehicle, and investigators are still working to determine what prompted the shooting.

3 articles · Updated · The Seattle Times · Aug 13

Three suspects were arrested after someone in a stolen vehicle fired multiple shots at undercover Seattle officers around 5:30 p.m., striking the police car but not hitting any officers.
The chase through South Seattle ended when the suspects' vehicle crashed into another car near 51st Avenue South and South Ryan Street, and one suspect then tried to carjack a driver while fleeing.
Two suspects, the driver whose car was hit, and one officer injured during the arrests were taken to Harborview Medical Center; police said none of the injuries were from gunfire.
Police said the officers had been following the stolen vehicle while working leads in a different case and do not believe the person they were seeking was inside; investigators found a handgun and a rifle in the vehicle.
Sound Transit closed Othello station around 6:15 p.m. during the response and restored regular service between Othello and Rainier Beach shortly before 7 p.m.