Police Officer Critically Shot During Standoff in Washington State

PJ Media | 3:04 AM on December 16, 2016

Law enforcement vehicles gather near Skagit Valley College in Mount Vernon, Wash., Thursday, Dec. 15, 2015. A Mount Vernon Police officer was shot and critically wounded by a suspect who was then barricaded in a Mount Vernon residence, authorities said. (Brandy Shreve/Skagit Valley Herald via AP)

A police officer was critically wounded when law enforcement responded to a domestic disturbance call in Mount Vernon, Washington.

The suspected shooter, who barricaded himself in a home in Mount Vernon, was taken into custody after midnight Friday. The suspect was not identified.

Law enforcement officials initially said that the suspect — described by police as a 44-year-old Mount Vernon man — had taken hostages, but they later said that was not the case.

Two other suspects are in custody.

The alleged shooter “is a violent offender and well-known to law enforcement,” Washington State Patrol Sgt. Keith Leary told reporters Thursday night.

The incident began when police responded to a domestic disturbance at 5:30 p.m. PT. After officers arrived at the scene, the shooter barricaded himself inside a home and started shooting at the police, according to a police spokesman.

An officer was shot in the back of the head, and initially transported conscious and alert to nearby Skagit Valley Hospital, Sgt. Leary said. The officer was then airlifted to Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center. A spokeswoman for the hospital had told The Associated Press that the officer was in surgery as of 10:30 p.m. But by early Friday morning, KOMO reported that the officer was out of surgery and in serious but stable condition.

The wounded officer was described as a 61-year-old man with 30 years on the police force.