SHELTON, Wash. — A Washington State Department of Corrections (DOC) community corrections officer was shot in Shelton Thursday morning.
The officer was shot by an “unknown shooter” while exiting his vehicle around 6 a.m. at the Shelton DOC field office, according to a DOC spokesperson.
The officer was shot in his torso and taken to Mason General Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The Mason County Sheriff’s Office tweeted law enforcement was looking for a “potentially armed and dangerous person” in the downtown Shelton area around 7 a.m. It's unknown if the search was related to the DOC officer that was injured in the shooting.
Shelton police and the Washington State Patrol are investigating the shooting. Detectives spent the day looking for clues but as of Thursday evening, no information was released about a potential suspect.
James Paschall, who lives near where the shooting happened, said he was outside enjoying his morning coffee when he heard the gunfire.
"I heard a shot, and I ducked down because I thought, 'wow, that was really close," said Paschall.
Shelton Police Lt. Chris Kostad said the shooting has left the community shaken but he hopes everyone can pull together.
"This is a smaller community, we all work together. We have the same clients that we all work with on a day-to-day basis. So when a DOC officer gets hurt, the county sheriffs feel that, the Shelton police feels that, the state patrol, we all do," said Kostad.
Shelton police are asking anyone with information about this incident to get in touch with them at 360-426-4441.
Download our free KING 5 app to stay up-to-date on news stories from across western Washington.