SEATTLE — Three people are in custody after shots were fired at Seattle police officers during an undercover investigation Wednesday evening in South Seattle, according to the Seattle Police Department.
Shortly before 6 p.m., plainclothes officers were investigating leads in another case near Martin Luther King Jr. Way South and South Cloverdale Street when someone in a dark-colored vehicle police were following opened fire on an undercover police vehicle.
The police vehicle was struck multiple times, but no officers were hit and officers did not return fire, according to SPD.
Police pursued the vehicle through South Seattle until it crashed into another vehicle near 51st Avenue South and South Ryan Street.
Police said all three people in the pursued vehicle fled on foot after the crash. One of them attempted to carjack another driver, but an officer intervened and stopped the attempted carjacking. All three suspects were taken into custody.
Four people were hospitalized following the incident, including two suspects who had been in the pursued vehicle, the driver of the vehicle struck in the crash and a Seattle police officer who was injured while attempting to arrest the suspects.
Police did not immediately provide information about the extent of their injuries. A third suspect was taken to Seattle Police Headquarters.
Investigators recovered a rifle and a handgun from the suspect vehicle, which police said had been reported stolen out of South King County.
Police said they do not believe the person of interest officers had been looking for as part of the initial investigation was inside the suspect vehicle. Investigators are still working to determine what prompted the gunfire.
The incident also caused traffic and transit disruptions in South Seattle.
The Seattle Department of Transportation reported police activity on Martin Luther King Jr. Way South at South Ryan Way was blocking all eastbound lanes and advised drivers to use alternate routes.
Sound Transit said 1 Line service was suspended between Othello and Rainier Beach stations because of the police activity. Trains continued operating between Lynnwood City Center and Beacon Hill, Beacon Hill and Othello, and Rainier Beach and Federal Way Downtown stations.
Sound Transit ordered shuttle buses to replace 1 Line service between Othello and Rainier Beach stations and said it would provide updates when the buses became available.
Police have not released additional information about the undercover investigation or what charges the three suspects could face.
The investigation is ongoing.