A 39-year-old Seattle man shot in the back during a robbery attempt in east Renton Monday night is expected to recover, after undergoing surgery for life-threatening injuries.

However, the 19-year-old Edmonds man who Renton police report shot the man with a handgun is dead.

The King County Medical Examiner identified the man as Phillip G. Kozlov. His death was ruled an accidental drowning. The medical examiner estimated Kozlov died at about 12:10 a.m. on Tuesday.

Kozlov fled the scene in the 3000 block of Southeast Royal Hills Drive in a 1990s Toyota, making his way to the area near Fort Dent Park in Tukwila near the Green River.

“He was unfamiliar with the area and turned into the river,” said Penny Bartley, a spokeswoman for the Renton Police Department.

Renton officers pursued Kozlov to Tukwila and were joined by Tukwila officers. He apparently drove on or near the Green River Trail, used by walkers and bicyclists. He went into the river at about 10:30 p.m.

Officers believe they spotted Kozlov outside the car after it went into the river, Bartley said. They searched the river and its banks, on foot and with canine units, and used a heat-sensing detector. The Sheriff

Office’s Guardian 1 helicopter also aided the search.

Searchers were at the river until about 4:30 a.m. Tuesday, Bartley said.

Divers with the Renton Fire Department recovered Kozlov’s body Tuesday afternoon. They also had found the car in a deep section of river and marked it with a buoy. It was removed from the river late Wednesday morning by a wrecking truck.

Renton Deputy Fire Chief Chuck Duffy noted the dangers of the recovery because even though the Green River looks relatively placid, “there is a fair amount of velocity and turbulence,” he said.

According to Bartley, police received a call at about 7:20 p.m. Monday that there was a victim of a shooting at the end of a heavily wooded dead-end road near the Royal Hills Apartments. The victim was found laying outside his Jeep Liberty, although he was shot inside his vehicle, according to Bartley.

The victim, whose name wasn’t released, was treated by Renton fire and medics, then taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle with life-threatening injuries.

He underwent surgery, according to Bartley, but he is expected to recover.

He was in the hospital’s intensive-care unit. Police at this time don’t know why the Seattle man was in the area, according to Bartley.

A second suspect was arrested Monday night and booked into the Renton Jail for felony investigation of robbery, according to Bartley. He was questioned and released, but could still face charges, she said.

The 20-year-old suspect lives in the Royal Hills Apartments next to the heavily wooded dead-end street where the shooting occurred.

There is a third person whom police would like to talk with regarding the incident, Bartley said, but as of mid-week, police had been unable to contact him. Police know his identity.

Bartley said that all three suspects know each other.

Dean A. Radford can be reached at 425-255-3484, ext. 5050, or at dean.radford@rentonreporter.com.