Washington state police search for suspect in trooper shooting

The Washington State Patrol and other police agencies launched a massive hunt for an unidentified man who shot a Washington state trooper early Saturday morning.

A small-caliber bullet was lodged in the back of Trooper Scott Johnson’s head, but his injury is not believed to be life-threatening, according to the State Patrol.

State Patrol spokeswoman Krista Hedstrom said she was told Johnson was “joking and being himself” at a Portland, Ore., hospital Saturday afternoon.

The shooting on Highway 103, also known as Pacific Avenue South, on the south side of downtown Long Beach, Wash., is the latest in a string of recent attacks on law enforcement officers.

“I am troubled that we’ve had yet another police officer ambushed while performing what should have been a simple law enforcement task,” Patrol Chief John Batiste said in a statement.

“I’m exceptionally thankful that Trooper Johnson is doing well, and very grateful for the assistance we’ve received from the Pacific County Sheriff’s Office and police agencies in both Washington and Oregon.”

Six officers were killed between Oct. 31 and Dec. 28: Seattle Officer Timothy Brenton; Pierce County Sheriff’s Deputy Kent Mundell; and four Lakewood, Wash., police officers, Sgt. Mark Renninger and Officers Tina Griswold, Ronald Owens and Greg Richards.

Gov. Chris Gregoire, in a statement, called the shooting “yet another reminder why we need to strengthen the protection of our law enforcement officers, their families and our communities.

“Trooper Johnson and all of our law enforcement officers put their lives on the line every day to protect and serve us. They are true heroes -- and I stand with the entire law enforcement community during this difficult time.”

Johnson was shot shortly before 1 a.m. as he was taking inventory of the contents of a vehicle before it was to be towed. The driver had been arrested on suspicion of drunk driving.

An unidentified man walked up to Johnson and a tow-truck driver and exchanged words with them, then pulled a gun and fired twice at Johnson, Hedstrom said. One bullet apparently grazed the trooper’s head, and the other lodged in the back of his head, she said.

Johnson fired back at the fleeing gunman. It wasn’t known whether the man was hit.

“Right now we don’t know if it was random or if it was in some way associated with the suspect who was arrested for DUI,” Hedstrom said. “We are in contact with the woman who was arrested for DUI. So far we’ve come up with nothing. . . . It could very well be somebody who was just having a bad day.”

The website of the Chinook Observer, a weekly newspaper covering the Long Beach Peninsula in southwestern Washington, quoted Trooper J.J. Gundermann as saying that “a scruffy white male in his 40s” walked by, stared at Johnson and, when the trooper asked whether he could help him, mumbled something and walked away.

“The man then returned and shot Johnson twice with a small-caliber handgun, hitting him once in the head,” Gundermann said.

Investigators are in the process of executing at least one search warrant in Pacific County, State Patrol Capt. Robert Johnson, no relation to the injured trooper, said Saturday.

Scott Johnson was honored as the local officer of the year in 2004 by the Ilwaco American Legion Post. At an award ceremony, Johnson joked that he had to pull an old pair of dress shoes from his closet for the occasion. The soles were so worn that he left a trail of black rubber across the stage.

“This is a neighbor, this is a friend,” Long Beach Mayor Bob Andrew said in an interview Saturday, calling Johnson “pretty much a local boy.”

Keith Ervin and Jonathan Martin write for the Seattle Times.