Here is how one officer reacted to the latest ambush of a police officer: And they want to throw us under the bus every time one of us has to shoot a suspect. I hope I never have to pull the trigger but, if I do, I plan to win. I WILL come home to my family! I hope this suspect suffers greatly, one way or another .
STATE TROOPER SHOT IN HEAD, LIVES
A Washington State Patrol trooper survived an attempted execution early Saturday morning, adding to law-enforcement fears that they are being targeted for violence
By Jonathan Martin and Keith Ervin
The Seattle Times
February 13, 2010
A Washington State Patrol trooper survived an attempted execution early Saturday morning, adding to law-enforcement fears that they are being targeted for violence.
Just after midnight, Trooper Scott Johnson, a decorated 25-year veteran, was processing the car of a drunken-driving suspect in downtown Long Beach, Pacific County, when a "scruffy-looking" man emerged out of the dark, according to the State Patrol.
The man mumbled something, and Johnson acknowledged him. When Johnson turned his attention back to the car, the man drew a small-caliber pistol and fired twice at the back of the trooper's head. The gunman then ran away.
One bullet grazed Johnson's ear. The other remained lodged in the back of his head. Remarkably, Johnson was in stable condition at a Portland hospital — alert, cracking jokes and able to describe the gunman to investigators and take a call from Gov. Chris Gregoire.
"I'll tell you what, the good Lord or somebody was looking out for him," said Long Beach Police Chief Flint Wright, who visited Johnson, a well-known local figure, at the hospital.
The incident comes amid one of the bloodiest stretches for Washington law enforcement in at least 50 years. Nine law-enforcement officers have been shot since Halloween, and six of them died. They include four Lakewood police officers — Sgt. Mark Renninger and Officers Tina Griswold, Ronald Owens and Greg Richards — killed in the deadliest single attack on police in state history.
"This is constantly on our minds," said State Patrol Capt. Robert Johnson, no relation to Scott Johnson, at an afternoon news conference. "It's a trend the likes of which we do not recall seeing."
"I am troubled that we've had yet another police officer ambushed while performing what should have been a simple law-enforcement task," State Patrol Chief John Batiste said in a statement. Batiste joined Johnson's family at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) Hospital in Portland, where the trooper was being treated.
Around midnight, Trooper Jesse Greene pulled over a woman in Long Beach on suspicion of drunken driving. Johnson, working solo in a patrol cruiser, arrived at 12:20 a.m., allowing Greene to take the driver in for processing.
A tow-truck driver arrived and was preparing to tow the car when the shooter suddenly appeared. The man exchanged words with Johnson and opened fire at 12:40 a.m. Johnson got off a shot, but there was no indication at the scene that the man was wounded, said Patrol Sgt. Freddy Williams.
The tow-truck driver, George Hill, radioed in the shooting.
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