By MIKE HALLIDAY

The Mirror

A man was shot and killed by police Thursday afternoon in Federal Way after he fired at them during a lengthy standoff at an apartment complex.

Shortly after 2 p.m., several gunshots were heard at the complex near South 308th Street and Pacific Highway South, across the street from Federal Way High School. The man was barricaded in an apartment at the back of the property and apparently fired at special-response team officers who had tried to flush him out most of the day using tear gas.

Police weren’t releasing the man’s name Thursday night.

Members of the team fired back and determined the man, described as black and in his 40s, was injured, said Stacy Flores, a Federal Way Police Department spokeswoman. Paramedics discovered the man died from the gunshots, according to authorities.

Flores said the King County medical examiner would rule officially how and where the man died.

For a time, police believed the man was in a crawl space above the apartment and had fired at officers on the roof of the apartment building.

Police evacuated tenants in the apartments around the unit where the man was barricaded. Sean Schooley, one of the people who lives three doors down, said he woke up to police outside the building. Schooley said the man shot by police didn’t live in the apartment building, but Schooley said he had seen him around the property.

Federal Way High School wasn’t locked down for students’ and workers’ safety because the incident was at the back of the apartment complex, Flores said. The area the police were in was a few hundred yards from the front of the school property.

The situation started at about 4 a.m. when police received a 911 call from a woman who said the man had kept her in her apartment against her will. When police arrived the man refused to come out and the special response team was activated and arrived at about 5 a.m. Thursday. At first, police were communicating with the man via the telephone but eventually he stopped talking to them, Flores said.

Over the next several hours, they fired tear gas canisters into the apartment to force the man out but, he would not surrender.

The woman told police the man was visiting and everything was fine at first but then he became agitated, Flores said. The woman didn’t know what caused the man to change his behavior.

Flores said the man had an extensive criminal history.

The special response team is comprised of officers from several law enforcement organizations including Federal Way.

Flores said once it’s determine who was involved in the exchange of gunfire those officers will be put on paid administrative leave while the shooting is investigated.

This is the second shooting involving police in Federal Way this month. One of the city’s officer shot a suspected serial rapist in the arm on Nov. 8 as he fled the scene of a home invasion and rape of two girls.

The suspect survived and was captured. has been charged with two counts of first-degree rape.

Staff writer Mike Halliday: 925-5565, mhalliday@fedwaymirror.com

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