Police officer arrested in drug case later dies from gunshot wound

Seattle Police Department found itself reeling Thursday after a veteran officer died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound shortly after being arrested in an internal drug sting.

The officer, Richard F. Nelson, a patrol officer with more than 21 years of experience, was booked into the King County Jail early Thursday morning on suspicion of stealing cocaine that he failed to submit into evidence, police officials said.

Hours after being released from jail, Nelson, 50, was found off the John Wayne Trail in the 1800 block of Cedar Falls Road Northeast near North Bend and taken to Harborview Medical Center. He died Thursday afternoon, according to a hospital spokeswoman.

One law-enforcement source said Nelson apparently shot himself in the head.

Nelson, of Issaquah, joined the department on Sept. 4, 1990. He worked in patrol operations in the South Precinct. He was married and the father of two teenage children, according to police.

One source described Nelson as a "hard worker" and "hard charger," whose arrest came as a surprise.

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