Policeman, Dog Shot By Store Owner

A police officer, his canine partner and a Tacoma couple were injured early Sunday after a breakin at the couple’s new business led to pre-dawn gunfire.

The shooting began when the owners were awakened by intruders they did not immediately realize were police officers.

None of the humans suffered lifethreatening injuries.The wounded officer, who suffered two shotgun wounds to his right leg, was admitted to Tacoma General Hospital for surgery. The couple, who suffered minor injuries, were treated and released.

The dog, struck in the chest by 13 shotgun pellets, was in serious to critical condition and scheduled for surgery today.”We’re speculating there won’t” be any charges filed in the incident, he said, but that decision will be made by Pierce County prosecutors.The names of those involved were not disclosed immediately and probably would not be released until today. , Mattheis said, though he noted that the man is 46, the woman 43 and the officer 31, a six-year veteran of the department.The shootings occurred at City Lights Billiard downtown, a business opened by the couple in the past week - “a memorable start,” Mattheis said wryly.

At 3:47 a.m., an officer responded to an audible alarm at City Lights Billiards downtown and noticed the front door had been smashed open with a brick.

The alarm went off a second time as an officer and a police dog entered the building. That time the alarm woke the sleeping owners.And the male owner “apparently had thrown someone out the night before, and the guy threatened him,” Mattheis said.

The couple woke to hear the alarm, followed by the sound of someone approaching the room where they’d been sleeping.

As the canine officer and his dog approached, the man inside “heard noises outside his door and fired three rounds” from a 12-gauge shotgun, police said.

The officer and the dog were hit.

The officer returned fire, striking the woman, who suffered a superficial wound to her shin.

The shooting stopped when he saw the police cars outside and realized who the “intruders” were.