Deputy slain responding to shooting report

SEATTLE – A King County sheriff’s deputy died Saturday after he was shot in the head while responding to a shooting near a residence in southwest Seattle.

Officers responded to a call in the White Center neighborhood around 1:42 a.m. Saturday and found the driver of a truck who had been beaten and shot at least once in the head. The man’s wounds were not life-threatening, the Sheriff’s Office said in a statement later Saturday.

“Apparently, the man had been drinking, gotten lost and ran his truck into a parked car, which likely precipitated the assault,” sheriff’s spokesman Sgt. John Urquhart said.

Officers began questioning at least a dozen people at a party at a nearby house.

Deputy Steve Cox was interviewing people in a back bedroom, Urquhart said, when a shot was heard. Two deputies moved toward the back of the house and were fired upon. At least one officer returned fire, and they rushed into the room.

The gunman had been shot and killed. Deputies found Cox with a gunshot to the head. He was taken to Harborview Medical Center, where he died about 6 a.m.

Cox, 46, was a nine-year veteran of the department and had been patrolling the White Center area for more than three years. He also lived in the area with his wife and young son.

He had a law degree and had served as a deputy prosecutor in King, Franklin and Adams counties before becoming a sheriff’s deputy.

“This is a terrible loss to the Sheriff’s Office, and an especially painful loss to the community,” Sheriff Sue Rahr said. “Steve epitomized the concept of community policing and giving back to the residents where you work. He cannot be replaced.”

The gunman was not immediately identified.

Pending the investigation, the two other deputies involved in the shooting have been placed on paid administrative leave, as is standard procedure, Urquhart said.