Suspected car thief fatally shot by Federal Way police

From staff reports:

A suspect died from police gunfire following a pursuit involving a stolen vehicle in Federal Way.

At 5:10 p.m. Tuesday, Federal Way police responded to a call regarding an occupied stolen vehicle.

The victim of the stolen vehicle reported that he witnessed a person driving his 1989 Ford F250 vehicle with switched license plates into the Wal-Mart parking lot at 34500 16th Ave. S, near I-5.

When police arrived at the vehicle, it was empty, according to police reports. Police continued surveillance and the suspect returned to the car, then began to exit the parking lot. Officers told him to stop, but he continued at a low rate of speed away from the officers. The police followed in a low-speed pursuit, using pursuit intervention techniques, ending the pursuit at South 360th Street and 22nd Avenue, according to police reports.

An officer exited his vehicle and approached on foot, but the suspect directed his vehicle toward the officer, according to police reports. The officer then fired upon the 23-year-old male suspect. The suspect, whose last known address was in Tacoma, was struck. He was extracted from the vehicle and transported to Harborview Medical Center where he died of his injuries. The King County Medical Examiner reported Thursday that David Charles Young, 23, died of a gunshot wound to the head.

The officer involved in the shooting is a seven-year veteran of the Federal Way Police Department and has been placed on paid administrative leave in accordance with standard policy. The King County Sheriff’s Office has taken over the full investigation at this time.

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