Suspect Arrested In Officer Shooting

RENTON - A Renton police officer wearing a bullet-resistant vest was shot in the neck by someone he was pursuing on foot near the Renton Municipal Airport, and a man was arrested at a store early Monday, police said.

A retail store clerk became suspicious and called 911 after a man asked for a ride about 2:15 a.m., and 58-year-old Wilford Armstead of Edmonds was jailed for investigation of assault, police spokeswoman Penny Bartley said.

The officer, 49-year-old Larry Strauss, a 20-year department veteran, was in stable condition after undergoing surgery at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle and "he is expected to recover," Bartley told The Associated Press.

Armstead had been sought on a warrant charging him with burglary, and his record includes 10 convictions for assault, burglary, possession of stolen goods and drug violations, she said.

The episode began after an officer went to check on four people who darted across busy Rainier Avenue, a pedestrian violation, and entered a white Chevrolet van in a strip mall parking lot shortly before 8 p.m. Sunday, Bartley said.

One of the men fled on foot, turned and shot Strauss as he gave pursuit, she said.

Strauss returned the gunfire, hit the emergency button on his service radio to summon help and gave some details of the shooting to police on the way to the hospital, she said.

The other three men were detained for questioning.

Strauss is married with a son, step-son, and step-daughter.