Sara Jean Green and , and Mike Carter and and and Jessica Lee
The Seattle Times
AUBURN, Wash. — A community corrections officer for the state Department of Corrections was wounded in a shootout Tuesday afternoon in Auburn that left the suspected gunman with potentially life-threatening injuries.
Officer Kristoffer Rongen was working in a task force with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) when he was wounded while trying to serve a warrant just before 3 p.m. in the parking lot of a condominium complex. An ATF agent returned fire and wounded the suspected gunman, according to Auburn police and an ATF spokeswoman.
Rongen, 46, was shot in the leg, a wound not considered life-threatening, according to a hospital spokeswoman. He is a 14-year veteran of the Department of Corrections (DOC).
BREAKING: State Department of Corrections officer reportedly shot in Auburn; suspect arrested, police say https://t.co/S6VPuQ580R
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The suspect was in serious condition Wednesday morning with multiple gunshot wounds, said Harborview Medical Center spokeswoman Susan Gregg.
The shooting was at the Bye the Green condominium complex in the 3400 block of I Street Northeast.
Meredith Davis, a spokeswoman for the ATF based in Los Angeles, said the two officers approached the suspect near a vehicle in the parking lot.
At first, Davis said, the man tried to run from one of the officers, who used a Taser to try to stop him. That’s when the suspect fired on Rongen and the ATF agent, who returned fire and wounded him, Davis said.
Auburn police Cmdr. Steve Stocker said the officers were serving a federal firearms warrant on the man.
Bye The Green resident Brianna Jensen said she heard nine shots, followed by someone yelling, “Get on the ground.”
Auburn police say no other suspects are being sought.
Medics for Auburn Fire Department treated the two wounded men and took them to Harborview Medical Center, according Kimberly Terhune, spokeswoman for the Valley Regional Fire Authority.
Multiple officers and detectives responded to the scene. Stocker said it’s unclear if the wounded suspect lived in the condominium complex.
The DOC said Rongen is one of 30 Community Response Unit officers who are responsible for tracking down difficult-to-locate violent offenders. The unit is part of the larger Community Corrections Division, which supervises roughly 17,000 offenders and works frequently with law-enforcement task forces in the community, the DOC said in a news release.
Rongen was previously involved in the 2012 shooting of an unarmed man in an Auburn-area home that resulted in a $5.5 million settlement.
Rongen and a King County sheriff’s deputy had gone to the home to arrest another man when they roused Dustin Theoharis as he was napping in bed. Theoharis reached for a wallet — the officers believed he was reaching for a handgun — and was shot 16 times. He survived.
Rongen also played football at the University of Washington, starting every game as offensive tackle for the 1991 team that won the national title. He was taken by the Seahawks in the 11th round of the 1992 draft but never made the roster.
Copyright 2016 The Seattle Times