KENT, Wash. (AP) -- A motorist was shot to death by police after he hit a car and a utility pole, put his Jeep into reverse and accelerated toward a bicycle patrol officer, investigators said.
The shooting was being investigated by Federal Way police, who as of early Monday had not released the names of the dead man or of two Kent police officers who were placed on administrative leave. An autopsy on the driver’s body was pending.
Stacy Flores, a Federal Way police spokeswoman, said the episode began Saturday evening after nightfall when the Jeep sped past two officers on bicycles, struck a car with a woman inside and smashed into a light pole.
He then put the Jeep in reverse and sped toward one of the bicycles, putting one officer “directly in the line of travel of the Jeep” with the other to the side, Flores said.
“There was a lot of yelling between the officers and the driver,” she said. “The suspect would not cooperate. He wouldn’t stop, he was coming at a high rate of speed, so they shot.”
Flores did not say how many shots were fired or where the Jeep driver was hit.
Dale Hamilton and other witnesses told KING Television of Seattle at least two shots were fired.
“He was telling him to shoot him and they shot him,” Hamilton said.
Both police officers have been with the Kent department for more than six years, Flores said.
The woman whose car was hit was being treated at a hospital for back injuries.