Gun Found Near Site Of Officer's Slaying -- Three Men Held; Police Still Trying To Explain Shooting

Seattle homicide detectives say they are still trying to piece together why a police detective was shot as he apparently came to the aid of a group of stranded motorists Saturday morning.

Searchers yesterday found a .22-caliber semiautomatic handgun in a gully 30 feet from the highway offramp where Seattle detective Antonio Martinez Terry was fatally shot. It will be tested to determine if it was the weapon that killed him.

And detectives say they have arrested or questioned all those they think were directly involved in the shooting.

A 25-year-old man, being held in the King County Jail for investigation of homicide, and two youths, 16 and 17, were to make court appearances today in connection with the shooting. Police say the gunman is the 17-year-old. Police also questioned and released a fourth person, a man in his 20s.

All three suspects have criminal histories, police said. The car they drove was registered to the adult's girlfriend, who police say was not involved in the shooting.

Detectives are asking that anyone who saw what happened or had seen anything before or after the shooting call 684-5550.

Terry, 36, of Burien, died at Harborview Medical Center at 4:01 a.m. Saturday from a single gunshot wound to the left lower abdomen.

He apparently was driving his unmarked police car home after work, heading south on Interstate 5 around 1 a.m. when he was flagged down by one of the suspects, police said. He stopped alongside the road near the Swift-Albro exit north of Boeing Field, and walked over to the disabled blue Ford Mustang.

Detectives would not say what was said between the suspects and Terry, but at some point, they said, it became known that Terry was a police officer.

Police said they weren't sure if Terry was flagged because the people with the Mustang were stranded or because they intended to hijack his car.

According to police, one of the suspects, Ervin Quentin, the 17-year-old, shot at Terry and hit him in the abdomen. Terry then fired back, hitting Quentin. Quentin was treated at Harborview for a shoulder wound, then taken into custody.

Terry meanwhile drove nearly two miles to the South Precinct, where he told officers what happened before he collapsed.

The first arrests were made about two hours after the shooting with the help of a tow-truck driver, police said.

One of the suspects called a tow-truck company to ask that the car be moved from the freeway. To do so requires the owner be present and that state police be summoned. The 25-year-old suspect and a woman rode with the tow-truck driver to the stalled car. There they found state troopers, too. The suspect was arrested; the woman was questioned and released.

According to court records, the 25-year-old suspect was convicted in King County Superior Court in 1992 for illegally possessing a gun. He was sentenced to three months but was allowed to remain free while he appealed the conviction.

Terry's car was not equipped with a police radio. Homicide Detective Tom Pike said unmarked police cars for undercover narcotics detectives do not normally carry police radios so they won't be identified during drug buys.

First in nine years

Terry's death was the first killing of a Seattle police officer in nine years. Officer Dale Eggers, moonlighting as a security guard, was killed during a Beacon Hill bank robbery in 1985.

The discovery of the handgun was a morale booster for many in the department.

Following up a tip, officers spent the weekend searching a heavily overgrown area 100 yards long and 50 yards wide, just west of the off-ramp where Terry was shot, said South Precinct Lt. Nicholas Metz.

About 40 on- and off-duty police officers and six volunteers from the Seattle Engineering Department participated in the search. Many of those looking for the gun did not personally know Terry but wanted to help out, Metz said.

A City Engineering employee, Linda Meyers, discovered the gun around 4:30 p.m.

"It was a big relief," Metz said.

Terry chose police work for simple reasons, his widow, Cheryl Ann said yesterday through a family friend.

"He wanted to help people and make a difference," said Debbie Barnett, a burglary detective.

Co-workers described Terry as a well-liked and respected officer whose sense of humor endeared him to other officers.

"Everybody is very upset and we're all very sad," Barnett said. "Antonio is going to be missed - I mean, really missed - because everybody knew him and everybody liked him," she said.

Barnett and Terry took tae kwon do classes together. Terry also was a member of the Black Law Enforcement Association of Washington that Barnett leads. The association will honor Terry at its next meeting.

Officers were wearing black tape over their badges to recall the slain officer. Soon, a likeness of Terry's badge will be mounted on a plaque to be posted in the East or South Precinct. He worked at both since joining the squad Feb. 21, 1990.

Born in St. Louis, Terry came to the Puget Sound area in the late 1970s. He graduated from Bethel High in Spanaway, near Tacoma, then attended Clackamas Community College in Oregon.

Terry moved back to the Seattle area to attend the University of Washington, where he was a member of the Phi Beta Sigma fraternity and played on the Husky football team.

Terry mentioned an interest in police work to a UW football teammate. That man, who became an officer himself, helped to recruit Terry to the police force, Barnett said.

When Terry joined Seattle police, he first worked in the South Precinct. He recently transferred to the narcotics unit, working out of the East Precinct on Capitol Hill.

Terry distinguished himself with solid police work and solid blocking on the police football team. A tight end, he played in the last three annual Bacon Bowls, games between Seattle and Tacoma police to raise money for children's charities.

In his spare time, he enjoyed fishing, camping, cycling and spending time with his family.

Besides his wife, Terry leaves their two young sons, 3-year-old Austin Martinez Terry and 19-month-old Colton Antonio Terry. Terry also has a 13-year-old daughter, Venessa Caballero.

Terry's family remained in seclusion at their home in Burien yesterday.

Neighbors who knew Terry said he didn't hesitate to help people.

"He would do anything to help you - a really, really nice guy," said Bob Barker, who owns the house next door to the Terry family. "He always said, `If you need any help with anything, Bob, let me know.' "

Barker said the Terry family moved to their home about a year a half ago.

"He was a very good neighbor. He loved his family, he loved his job."

Barker moved to Auburn late last year. His daughter lives in the house now, but Barker drops by almost every day and had stayed in touch with Terry.

Barker's daughter, Patricia Graham, said her two young children played with Terry's two little boys.

Antonio and Cheryl Terry "always were out together playing with their kids," said Graham. "They had a real close relationship."

Both also were good neighbors who never hesitated to offer assistance and always took the time to say hello, Graham said.

Some neighbors knew Terry only by sight as an athletic man who jogged frequently and who nearly every morning walked his two young sons to day care down the street.

"We'd see him walk every day," said Gloria Downs. "He seemed just really nice. We'd wave to him and he'd smile. The kids are really darling. . . . He looked like a very good father - real caring."

Another neighbor, Carolyn Holmes, said she wasn't aware the man walking his boys was a police officer.

"He would go right past my house - he'd wave," Holmes said. "You don't see too many fathers who spend that much time with their kids. It's real unusual to see a husband walking his children to day care every day."

Terry is also survived by his parents, Tommy L. and Tommie Terry of Tacoma; a brother, Brian Terry, and sisters, Yvonne Jones and Monika Terry.

Funeral services are to be held at 11 a.m. Thursday at Mount Zion Baptist Church, 1634 19th Ave.

Burial will follow at Washington Memorial Park Cemetery. Bonney Watson is handling arrangements.

In lieu of flowers, the family is asking that remembrances be made in the name of Terry's children to Washington Mutual Savings Bank at 7100 Martin Luther King Jr. Way S., Seattle, 98118.

The Seattle Police Officers Guild also is setting up a fund for the family. Contributions can be sent to the guild at 2517 Eastlake Ave. E., Seattle, 98102.

Times staff reporters Daryl Strickland, Anne Koch, Diedtra Henderson and Helen E. Jung contributed to this report.