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[PeteSC]

Seattle police involved in shooting with motorcyclist; bystander wounded

By Sara Jean Green

Seattle Times staff reporter

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At least one Seattle police officer shot at a man in his 20s who was firing his own handgun while riding a motorcycle early this morning in Belltown.

The man was shot in the leg and a female bystander, also in her 20s, was shot in the shoulder, said police spokeswoman Debra Brown.

Around 2 a.m., the man called his father to say he'd been assaulted and his father told the man to come meet him somewhere in the Belltown area, Brown said.

"The next thing we know, officers heard gunshots," she said.

Police officers, who are typically in the area when neighborhood bars are closing, saw the man, who was going east on Blanchard Street and approaching First Avenue, coming towards them on his motorcycle with a gun in his hand, Brown said.

"He cranked off several rounds from the motorcycle," and refused the officers' orders to stop. At least one officer shot at the man, who continued through the intersection and T-boned a vehicle.

The man had a gunshot wound to the leg, but Brown couldn't say if he'd been hit by an officer's bullet or if he'd accidentally shot himself.

Likewise, she couldn't say if a woman who was standing on Blanchard Street between Western Avenue and First Avenue was shot by the motorcyclist or by an officer.

Both were taken to Harborview Medical Center. Their injuries are not considered life-threatening.

Homicide detectives and crime scene investigators were called to the scene and are trying to figure out the sequence of events, Brown said.

She couldn't provide any details about the officers, other than to say both are veteran officers assigned to the department's west precinct. As is routine in officer-involved shootings, both are on administrative leave.




  Cool!  'Wild West' time in Seattle!
  I can imagine the public uproar over this....