An Army soldier stationed at Fort Lewis died protecting his fellow soldiers during a suicide bombing in Iraq, his family said.

Army Sgt. Donald Griffith Jr., 29, died Friday in Tal Afar, Iraq, according to his sister, Amanda Weber of Mechanicsville, Iowa.

Weber said her brother was protecting other soldiers when he was killed. "He ran out and shielded the rest of his troop from a suicide bomber," she said yesterday.

Weber said her brother, who graduated from a Las Vegas high school, joined the Army about eight years ago. He was sent to Iraq in September and worked in secret operations, she said.

Kent

Wrong-way crash kills Silverdale woman, 20

A 20-year-old woman died early yesterday on Interstate 5 near Kent after a car going the wrong direction collided with the car she was driving.

Heather Meadows of Silverdale, Kitsap County, died at the scene, and 20-year-old Eric Gray, a passenger in her car, was taken to Harborview Medical Center and listed in serious condition yesterday, according to the State Patrol. The unnamed 31-year-old Seattle man driving the other car was also taken to Harborview with serious injuries, according to the Patrol.

The car he was driving traveled northbound in the southbound lanes of I-5 for approximately one mile at around 4:30 a.m. before the collision, the Patrol said.

Everett

Everett parade honors Lincoln, Shoup sailors

Hundreds of sailors from the USS Abraham Lincoln and USS Shoup marched through downtown Everett on Saturday, eight days after they returned from a deployment that was extended after a tsunami devastated Southern Asia.

President Bush diverted the aircraft carrier and guided-missile destroyer just after Christmas, adding another month to their deployment. The Lincoln and its air wing served as the hub of a relief operation for tsunami victims.

Auburn

Person of interest identified in shooting

The Auburn police have identified a person of interest in a shooting death on Highway 167 early Saturday after an altercation at a Pacific apartment complex.

No names were released.

An autopsy will be done today on a 20-year-old Federal Way man who was killed when his red Honda Passport was fired on more than 20 times. Police are looking for an assault-type weapon. One passenger remains at Harborview Medical Center and a second was released Saturday.

Witnesses are asked to call the Auburn police at 253-931-3080.

Seattle

Man found dead in South Seattle park

A man in his early 20s was killed by an apparent gunshot wound Saturday evening at a playground in South Seattle, according to the Seattle Police Department.

The man was found dead at the Othello Playground after police were called to respond to a disturbance there, according to police. Only the body was there when police reached the scene.

No suspect had been identified and the victim's name was not released.

Olympia

Minor quake reported Saturday evening

A minor earthquake with a magnitude of 3.3 was reported 15 miles north of Olympia at 7:37 p.m. Saturday.

The quake occurred 16 miles below the surface of the earth, according to the Pacific Northwest Seismograph Network.

Maple Valley

Woman in custody after standoff at home

A Maple Valley woman was taken into custody shortly after 6 p.m. yesterday after a standoff in which she barricaded herself in her house, the King County Sheriff's Department said.

The incident occurred just off the Maple Valley Highway in the vicinity of Southeast 151st Street and 134th Avenue Southeast.

Times staff and news services