Exactly one week to the day after a deputy was shot and killed with his own gun by a naked, drug crazed assailant three deputies were wounded last night while serving a search warrant on a suspected meth lab.
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[b][size=3]3 deputies shot: Gunman killed, 2 arrested in Maple Valley drug investigation[/size=3][/b]
Three King County sheriff's detectives were shot yesterday evening as they were serving a search warrant on a suspected drug house near Maple Valley. At least one of the detectives fired back, killing the gunman.
Two of the detectives were in critical condition last night at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. The third was in stable condition at Valley Medical Center.
A 29-year-old detective who has been with the Sheriff's Office since 1997 was shot in the stomach. A 35-year-old detective was shot in both upper legs and in the groin.
The third detective, who is in stable condition, was shot in the lower left leg.
The detectives, from the Maple Valley and Kenmore precincts, all were wearing bulletproof vests and likely T-shirts or jackets identifying them as sheriff's deputies, said Sgt. John Urquhart of the Sheriff's Office.
All three detectives are veteran law officers and members of the Sheriff's Office Neighborhood Drug Enforcement Team. They, along with 10 to 12 other detectives, were serving a search warrant on a house in the 24800 block of 208th Avenue Southeast that was suspected of housing a methamphetamine lab and chop shop for stolen cars.
Sheriff's Office spokesman Greg Dymerski gave this account of the shooting incident:
The detectives arrived about 3 p.m. at the house on a dead-end road near State Route 18. They arrested a man and a woman on suspicion of drug possession without incident and began collecting evidence.
About 6:45 p.m., a man on a motorcycle pulled up to the house.
He had his hands in his pockets, and the detectives became suspicious. He then lit a cigarette and made a suspicious move that prompted the detectives to arrest him.
Detectives tried to wrestle the man to the ground in the driveway area, but as they fell, the man grabbed a handgun from his pocket and ``started shooting wildly,'' Dymerski said.
At least one detective was able to return fire at the 31-year-old man, who died at the scene. It was not known last night if the man lived at the residence where the shooting took place. His identity was not released.