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DUVALL, Wash. (AP) — A police officer in Washington state got back in his patrol car after being shot in the leg and pursued the fleeing gunman until other officers arrived to take over the chase and make an arrest following a standoff, authorities said Tuesday.
The attack occurred late Monday after Duvall police Sgt. Michael DeBock responded to calls about a man shooting at people with a paintball gun from a church parking lot in the town northeast of Seattle.
When DeBock approached, the man backed his vehicle into him and shot him in the thigh, authorities said. Despite the wound, DeBock gave chase.
"His actions were extremely brave," Officer Seth Tyler, a spokesman for the King County Investigative Response Team, said in a statement. "When additional units arrived he turned around and called an ambulance."
Officers from different jurisdictions joined the 18-mile chase from Duvall to Preston that reached speeds of 90 mph as the gunman continued to fire.
One bullet shattered the back window of a King County sheriff's vehicle and hit the rearview mirror.
"That deputy is very lucky," Tyler said, explaining that the deputy was attempting to slow down the fleeing suspect by getting in front of him.
Eventually, officers ahead of the chase laid down spike trips that took out the tires of the man's vehicle. Still, he did not surrender immediately. Instead, he got out of his car, fired his gun into the ground and walked toward a neighborhood, authorities said.
After two hours of negotiations, officers used a rubber bullet to knock the gun from the man's hand and moved in to arrest him around 3 a.m. Tuesday.
"Those officers showed great deal of restraint," Tyler said. "They would have been justified in using deadly force at that point."
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