DRUG LAB SHOOTOUT LEAVES 2 DETECTIVES CRITICALLY INJURED

MAPLE VALLEY, Wash. - Two King County Sheriff's detectives were in critical
condition with multiple gunshot wounds, another was wounded and a suspect
was dead after a confrontation at a drug lab, a sheriff's spokesman said.

The detectives were shot while serving a drug arrest warrant shortly after
6 p.m. near this southeast Seattle suburb.

Two people were arrested without incident, but then a third person arrived
on a motorcycle, sheriff's spokesman Greg Dymerski said.

"He was acting pretty suspicious, keeping his hands in his pockets, and the
next thing they know he pulled out a handgun and shot three of our
detectives," Dymerski said.

"We're just counting our blessings that they're alive."

The man was killed by return fire from deputies or detectives on the scene,
Dymerski said.

The two most seriously injured detectives were flown to Harborview Medical
Center in Seattle. Both were in critical condition, one with gunshot wounds
to an elbow and his torso, the other with multiple gunshot wounds in his
lower body, a nursing supervisor said.

A third detective was shot in the leg and was taken to a hospital near the
scene for treatment, Dymerski said.

The motorcycle rider was not identified.

The arrest warrant was served on a methamphetamine lab. Dymerski said he
did not know if the man who was killed had been named in the warrant.

The shootings followed the fatal shooting June 22 of King County Sheriff's
Deputy Richard Herzog, 46. Herzog was shot with his own gun during a
struggle with a suspect. Thousands of law enforcement officers attended his
memorial service in suburban Des Moines on Thursday.