17-year-old suspect shot by deputy in SeaTac after he rammed cop car, sheriff's office says

SEATAC -- A suspect who fled police in a stolen car was shot by a deputy in SeaTac Thursday night after he refused to get out of the vehicle, put it in reverse and rammed a patrol car, pushing it into a deputy standing behind it,  the King County Sheriff's Office said.

The 17-year-old suspect was shot in the head, but it was not believed to be a life-threatening injury, sheriff's Sgt. Stan Seo said. His condition was not immediately known.

No deputies were injured.

The sheriff's office said the incident started at 8:20 p.m. and began as a stolen vehicle recovery after a stolen car was spotted at South 208th Street and International Boulevard, Seo said. A deputy found a stolen vehicle with a man in it, Seo said. The deputy waited until his partner arrived and they ordered the man to get out of the vehicle, but the suspect drove off instead.

Following a short pursuit, the suspect pulled into a dead-end street. The deputies again ordered the 17-year-old to get out of the car, but he refused, Seo said.

At that point, the driver put the car into reverse and rammed the front of a deputy's car, where a deputy was standing. Fearing his partner was in danger, the other deputy fired two shots, hitting the suspect once, the deputy said.

Seo says the second deputy fired "because he feared for his partner's life."

The sheriff's office, in its initial reports, said  the suspect shot at deputies and they returned fire in the 20800 block of 32nd Avenue South. But the sheriff's office later said that the suspect did not fire any shots at deputies and was not armed.

Deputies removed the suspect from the car and immediately provided aid, officers said. He was taken to Harborview Medical Center with non-life-threatening injuries.