The names of three Lakewood police officers who shot at a burglary suspect after a tense standoff outside a business last month have been released, according to the Pierce County Force Investigation Team, which investigates incidents where officers use deadly force.
Officers Rader Cockle, Mike McGettigan and Kayla Dragt fired their guns while attempting to arrest Ryan Steven Campbell in Lakewood on Jan. 22, the PCFIT news release said. The News Tribune reported that the 36-year-old man was hit once by a SWAT marksman during the roughly eight-hour standoff and was transported to a local hospital in critical condition.
Cockle, 39, has five years of law enforcement experience and has served with the Lakewood Police Department for three years and three months. McGettigan, 48, has served with Lakewood police for 18 years and three months, and Dragt, 25, has served with Lakewood police for two and a half years, according to the PCFIT release.
Law enforcement agencies, including the Lakewood Police Department, responded to the scene of a reported burglary at a used auto-parts store in the 2000 block of 112th Street South at about 9:07 a.m. Jan. 22, according to The News Tribune’s reporting. Officers found the burglary suspect, Campbell, in the 10800 block of 25th Avenue South.
Court documents reviewed by The News Tribune allege Campbell, armed with a handgun that appears to have been missing an ammunition magazine, assaulted a 69-year-old employee of a machinery-sales business and tried to take him hostage.
While inside the 8,000-square-foot office building and warehouse of the machinery-sales company, Campbell also allegedly spread gasoline throughout the building. He threatened to light himself on fire and made other threats and demands to law enforcement, as officers surrounded the area, The News Tribune reported.
Officers fired their guns at Campbell at multiple times during the standoff and wounded him while he was trying to flee. Asked which officer shot and wounded Campbell, Pierce County Sheriff’s Department spokesperson Carly Cappetto said she doesn’t have that information yet, but that the three officers named were the only ones to fire their weapons during the incident.
Campbell pleaded not guilty to eight felonies in Pierce County Superior Court Wednesday, The News Tribune reported.
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