ATF to handle prosecution of man suspected of shooting DOC officer

The Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives will prosecute the man suspected of shooting a state Department of Corrections Officer on June 28 in Auburn.

The Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives will prosecute the man suspected of shooting a state Department of Corrections Officer on June 28 in Auburn.

“We are only investigating the officer-involved shooting for DOC and ATF,” Auburn Police Cmdr. Steve Stocker said Friday afternoon.

Stocker said Officer Kristoffer Rongen was working for a task force with the federal ATF when the suspect allegedly shot him in the leg  as he was serving a federal firearms warrant before 3 p.m. in the parking lot of the Bye the Green Condominiums at 3428 I St. NE.

An ATF agent returned fire and wounded the suspect. Medics transported him in serious condition to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle with multiple gunshot wounds.

Police said they do not consider Rongen’s wound life threatening.

Emily Langlie, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Justice in Seattle, said the formal filing of charges against the unnamed suspect will have to wait until he is well enough to leave the hospital and appear in court.