LONG BEACH, Wash. (AP) - The Washington State Patrol says a suspect has been jailed in the shooting of a trooper at Long Beach.
The patrol said Monday that 45-year-old Martin A. Jones of Seaview was arrested overnight in Long Beach. He was booked into the Pacific County Jail in South Bend for investigation of assault
and attempted murder.
The patrol says investigators continue looking for evidence and asking the public for tips about Jones.
Trooper Scott Johnson was shot in the back of the head early Saturday as he was processing a car to be towed.
Trooper Krista Hedstrom said Johnson is being released Monday from a Portland hospital. He still has bullet fragments in his head, and doctors are deciding whether they can be removed.
The suspect description has been updated. He is described as a White Male, 35-40 years old with light tan complexion. He is 5'10" to 5'11" tall, and weighed about 185 - 200 pounds. He was wearing a dark colored insulated shirt and possibly a knit cap. It is unknown if the subject was wounded by Johnson’s return fire.
The original incident occurred shortly before 1:00 a.m. along State Route 103 near 12th Street, as Johnson was inventorying the contents of a vehicle about to be towed. A subject walked up, and there was a short verbal exchange between the subject, Johnson and the tow truck driver. The assailant then pulled a small caliber handgun and fired twice.
Johnson suffered two gunshot wounds, one to the head. He was first transported to Ocean Beach Hospital in Long Beach, and then transferred by ground ambulance to Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland. He remains there in good condition.
Johnson is a 25-year veteran of the state patrol. He was assigned to the Pacific County area upon graduation from the academy in 1984 and has worked the area his entire career.
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