Deputy shoots teen in the head after SeaTac stolen car chase

Western Washington’s third police-related shooting in a week happened in SeaTac Thursday night when a King County Deputy shot a teen who allegedly was using a car as a weapon.

“He’s moving one of the deputy’s vehicles into the other vehicle, which was an SUV, and pinning one of the two deputies between the two vehicles,” said Sergeant Stan Seo with the King County Sheriff’s Office.

“The deputy who is not pinned is pretty scared for his partner, and chooses to shoot,” Seo said. “The deputy fires two rounds, one of which strikes the male occupant in the vehicle.”

The 17-year-old teen, who is black, is expected to survive. The deputy is white. The teen was shot in the head, the Seattle Times reports.

The teen was spotted around 8:20 p.m. on International Boulevard driving a stolen Lexus from Federal Way. Deputies initially pulled over the car, but the driver soon hit the gas and a chase ensued.

“The driver turned into a apartment complex and it was a dead end,” Seo said. “The deputies then ordered the driver to shut the car off, get out of the car, show their hands…but the driver wouldn’t listen to them.”

Both deputies were out of their vehicles when the teen allegedly chose put the car in reverse, and began ramming the patrol cars with the stolen Lexus.

One deputy opened fire and hit the teen. The teen was unarmed.

The suspect was taken into custody and given medical aid; initially first aid by the deputies. He was then transported to Harborview Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries.

The deputy who was pinned between the two cars was not injured.

Seo did comment on the shooting incident in light of recent racially-charged events in the nation.

“Every incident is different, and our area, Seattle and greater King County, is different than other parts of the country and you have to put that in context of what happened here,” Seo said.

“The suspect had two opportunities to comply with the deputies’ orders and follow what they were telling him to do. He chose not to,” he said. “On the final occasion, he chose to use his car as a weapon. It puts the deputies in a hard situation at that time.”

The officer who fired the shot is on leave following the incident. The sheriff’s office is investigating the shooting.

On May 21, an Olympia police officer shot two young black men who allegedly assaulted him with their skateboards.

On May 26, a Snohomish County Sheriff’s deputy shot and killed a suspicious individual near Monroe.