Loss prevention agent in critical condition after being shot by a customer
Federal Way WA Sept 11 2021
A store loss prevention agent is in critical condition after being shot by a customer after an argument over alcohol.
Federal Way police responded just before 1 p.m. at the WinCo store located at 160 Southwest Campus Driver, while the store was full of customers.
The 30-year-old loss prevention agent was called to remove a drunk and belligerent customer when cashiers refused to sell the man alcohol.
Police said that while the security guard was trying to escort the customer out, the customer pulled out a pistol and shot him in the chest inside the store, near the entrance.
The loss prevention agent was taken by paramedics to a waiting airlift near the store and was flown to Harborview Medical Center in critical condition.
Nearby detectives dusted items inside a grocery cart for prints. Law enforcement believes the suspect had loaded a cart full of items and pushed it to a nearby stairwell, where he got away.
The stairwell was strewed with items from the store.
During the incident, nearby schools were also placed on lockdown.
A K-9 was used to track the suspect, but he could not be found until much later.
Police said they arrested a 24-year-old man “responsible for the shooting at WinCo this afternoon.”
He was taken into custody without incident and booked into the King County Jail for first-degree assault.
The investigation remains ongoing.
