A Washington National Guardsman has been killed on foot patrol in Iraq.

Sgt. Damien Ficek, 26, died Thursday while on patrol in Baghdad searching for insurgents, his family told KATU-TV in Portland.

Ficek graduated from Beaverton (Ore.) High School and was a resident of Pullman. He had been in Iraq for more than a year and was scheduled to return home in March.

He previously had served in the Army for four years before he signed up with the National Guard. In Pullman, he was a sports-massage therapist working for the Washington State University athletic department.

The Washington National Guard and the Department of Defense were not immediately available to provide details yesterday.

Lakewood, Pierce County

Police seek suspect after two people shot

A man was shot in the face and a woman suffered gunshot wounds yesterday morning in Lakewood in an apparent dispute with another couple over compact discs. The injuries were not life-threatening, police said.

The shooting suspect and a female companion got away from the scene in a van and were spotted by police on Interstate 5 before the van crashed into a pole at East 56th Street and East Portland Avenue in Tacoma. The woman suffered nonlife-threatening injuries in the crash, and the driver ran away, said Lt. Bret Farrar of Lakewood police.

The suspect was described as a light-skinned African American with braided hair, 5-foot-10 to 6 feet tall, medium build, in his early to mid 20s.

Spokane

Shooting outside bar leaves one person dead

A man was shot to death after a dispute outside the Crazy Eights bar early Saturday, police said.

Police said a dispute developed as a crowd was leaving the bar at the 2 a.m. closing time early on New Year's Day. One person pulled a handgun and fired, hitting the victim in the chest. The name of the victim was not immediately released. Times staff and news services