Police Shoot Armed Man 4 Times

A Warden, Wash., police officer shot an armed man who threatened him and an employee at a restaurant Monday night.

Francisco Ortega, 31, of Warden was shot four times. He was hospitalized for his injuries, which weren’t life-threatening, authorities said.

Ortega was taken to Samaritan Hospital in Moses Lake, before being released Tuesday and transported to the Grant County Jail.

He is charged with first-degree kidnapping and second-degree assault, said Grant County Undersheriff Mike Shay.

Ortega is accused of threatening and holding captive a Corral Restaurant employee, whom he suspected of having an affair with his wife, Shay said.

During the 7:45 p.m. confrontation another employee called police, Shay said. Two Warden police officers responded.

In the restaurant’s banquet room. Ortega raised a revolver and pointed it at one of the officers, according to Shay.

The officer responded by shooting Ortega in the right thigh, abdomen and right arm.

The Grant County Sheriff’s Department and Washington State Patrol are investigating the shooting. Authorities wouldn’t release the officer’s name because the shooting is under investigation.