Officer shot, suspect killed
LOREN BENOIT/Press Law enforcement officers respond to a scene where a Coeur d'Alene police officer was shot on Hattie Avenue and Government Way Tuesday night.
Coeur d’Alene Police Chief Lee White speaks to members of the media Tuesday night about a shooting in which one police officer was wounded and a suspect was shot and killed. (LOREN BENOIT/Press)
COEUR d'ALENE — A Coeur d'Alene police officer underwent surgery Tuesday evening after being shot by a man who was later killed by officers, police said.
The wounded officer was transported by a patrol car to Kootenai Health. Police did not release the injured officer's name or condition.
“I will tell you, he was sitting up and talking to us,” said Police Chief Lee White.
The suspect, whose name was also not released, died as a result of being shot by police, White said.
The shooting occurred after two officers, part of a field training unit, stopped a man around 7 p.m. near the intersection of Government Way and Hattie Avenue, north of the Ironwood Mall.
A field training unit is a two-officer team that includes a field training officer and a new recruit who is learning to become a patrolman.
White could not confirm whether the incident started with a traffic stop, or if the two officers made contact with a pedestrian. Witnesses said the man who died was driving a black Volkswagen Jetta that was pulled over by police on Hattie Avenue.
White said the officers learned the man had a felony warrant, and when they made physical contact with the man, he used a handgun to shoot at the officers, who returned fire.
Other officers arrived and also shot at the man who was shooting at police, White said. He would not say how many officers were involved in the shooting, or how many rounds were fired back and forth.
The suspect's handgun was recovered by police.
Police vehicles lined Hattie between Government Way and Third Street late Tuesday as the investigation continued into the night.
Anna Kramer, who works at the Conoco Gas Mart on Government Way, not far from the scene, said she heard the gunfire when she went outside to smoke a cigarette.
The gunshots lasted for 25 to 30 seconds, Kramer said.
She went inside the store to call 911, she said, and within a minute, police came to the store and told her to stay inside and lock the door.
“There was definitely more than 12 (shots) … It scared me,” Kramer said.