WOUND LISTED AS SERIOUS; POLICE SAY SHE FIRED FIRST

KITE - A woman suspected of drug trafficking was seriously wounded Monday night during a drug raid in rural Knott County, Kentucky State Police said.

The woman, Angela King, 34, of Kite, was shot once in the head by Perry County Deputy Sheriff John Couch, a member of the Appalachia-HIDTA Task Force based in London, said Trooper Tim Kilburn of the Hazard post.

King was listed in serious condition yesterday in the intensive-care unit at Cabell-Huntington Hospital in West Virginia, said Annette Layne of Kite, King's sister.

Kilburn said King opened fire on Couch and Trooper Randy Combs when they entered King's home on Arnold Fork at 11 p.m.  to serve a search warrant.

Couch returned fire twice, striking King once in the head, Kilburn said.  Combs did not fire, Kilburn said.

Perry County Sheriff Pat Wooton placed Couch, 38, on paid administrative leave until an investigation of the shooting is completed.

Wooton said Couch has been a law enforcement officer for nine years and joined the-HIDTA task force in October.

Meanwhile, police arrested King's husband, Dennis Ray King, 49, and charged him with trafficking in marijuana.  Kilburn said officers found 20 to 25 pounds of processed marijuana, several firearms and more than $13,000 in cash in the house.

Layne, one of several of Angela King's relatives in the Huntington hospital's waiting room, said her sister underwent surgery for several hours yesterday morning.

Layne said relatives question whether Angela King fired the first shot when 10 law-enforcement officers showed up at her house.

"To me, that's not like her, to make a bad situation worse," Layne said.

"I know she would not have shot unless she felt like her life was threatened."

Layne said the Kings' 14-year-old son claims he heard only two shots during the altercation.  She said the boy "was put to the ground with a foot on his shoulder" during the incident.