Possible suspect in Wash. trooper death shoots self

Possible suspect in Wash. trooper death shoots self

PORT ORCHARD, Wash. (AP) — A possible suspect in the shooting death of a Washington State trooper during a traffic stop early Thursday shot himself hours later as a SWAT team closed in, authorities said.

Investigators had received a tip on where to find the registered owner of a pickup truck the trooper had stopped early Thursday before he was shot.

“As our SWAT team made their approach they heard a single gunshot coming from the house,” Kitsap County sheriff’s Sgt. Ken Dickinson said. “They found a male subject with a single gunshot wound.” The man was taken to Tacoma General Hospital; his condition was unknown.

Dickinson couldn’t confirm whether the man was the owner of the truck or a suspect in the trooper’s killing.

The trooper, a 16-year veteran of the Washington State Patrol, had stopped the truck around 1 a.m. on Highway 16 about 20 miles west of Seattle across Puget Sound. He radioed the location and license plate number, said Trooper Russ Winger.

When the trooper didn’t respond to status checks, a Kitsap County sheriff’s deputy went to the scene and found the trooper outside his patrol car. He was taken to St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma where he was declared dead.