HollyMatkinBremerton, WA – Two Bremerton Police Department (BPD) officers were shot while questioning a man about a protection order violation on Sunday, police said.
The unnamed 53-year-old gunman was pronounced dead at the scene, and two BPD officers have been hospitalized.
The officers made contact with the suspect at Lions Park at approximately 1:16 a.m., KIRO reported.
Police had information that the man had violated a domestic violence protection order, and approached him as he sat in the driver’s seat of his vehicle.
The man immediately emerged from his SUV and opened fire on the officers with two pistols, KOMO reported.
Despite their gunshot wounds, officers returned fire, killing the suspect.
Police said the dispatch center received notifications that shots had been fired at 1:20 a.m.
The unnamed officers were rushed to a local hospital.
One officer was struck in the waist, and was fortunately only grazed by the gunman’s bullet. That officer is expected to be released from the hospital later on Sunday, BPD Chief Steve Strachan told The Seattle Times.
The other officer underwent surgery after being hit in the abdomen by at least two rounds, but is expected to recover, Chief Strachan said.
Chief Strachan told KOMO that the depart was very familiar with the gunman, and that he had actually assaulted another officer just two weeks prior when investigators found the man hiding in an attic, KOMO reported.
“He’s a very, very violent person, he said. “We’re lucky we didn’t lose anyone.”
Chief Strachan said the officer-involved shooting investigation will be conducted by the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office and Washington State Patrol, along with officers from the Poulsbo, Bainbridge Island and Port Orchard police departments.