Sheriff’s deputies responding to reports of a collision found a man had been shot and killed near a Maple Valley restaurant Wednesday night, the King County Sheriff’s Office said.
Deputies were called to the 18600 block of Renton Maple Valley Road Southeast around 7 p.m. by Washington State Patrol officers investigating a collision, sheriff’s spokesperson Sgt. Tim Meyer said. They found a car had crashed into a utility pole on Renton Maple Valley Road Southeast, and the driver had suffered a gunshot wound and died on scene, he said.
Meyer said it was not immediately clear if the man had died from the gunshot or the collision. His official cause of death will be determined by the county’s medical examiner.
The crash occurred near a Maple Valley restaurant, the Red Dog Saloon, which reported on Facebook Wednesday that two drivers — neither a customer — had pulled into the far end of the restaurant’s parking lot earlier that evening. One driver “ended up shot” and “ran into a telephone pole,” the post said.
“That is all we know,” the post said. “Please pray for all involved.”
No arrests have been made and no other information was immediately available, Meyer said.
He said the investigation had been slowed because the utility pole was damaged in the crash and it was “not safe to continue” until after it was repaired. Puget Sound Energy is responding to the scene, he said, and deputies would likely work throughout the night.
Renton Maple Valley Road Southeast near the Red Dog Saloon has been closed while the investigation continues.