One Vancouver police officer who fired his weapon and another who was shot at are on leave following an early Friday morning shootout.
The fatal shooting that left an armed man dead began when deputies with the Clark County Sheriff’s Office responded to a disturbance call along Northeast 71st Street in Vancouver after 11 p.m. Thursday.
A photo released by the Clark County Sheriff's Office shows the damaged windshield of an armored police vehicle. Police say they shot and killed an armed suspect in Vancouver on Sept. 27, 2024 after the man fired a rifle at police.
Courtesy of the Clark County Sheriff's Office
A person in that neighborhood had reported a man was yelling and threatening to harm people in the area. A second caller to 911 said the man had fired a rifle into the air, according to the sheriff’s office.
Police said they used a drone to confirm the man was armed and contacted him by phone in an effort to deescalate the situation, but the man was uncooperative. Officers reported they later heard more gunshots.
Vancouver officers with the regional SWAT team arrived around 1:24 a.m. to assist with the call, and set up a perimeter of armored vehicles.
As SWAT team officers gathered, the man fired several rounds at the armored vehicles, striking the windshield of one truck while a Vancouver officer was inside, according to police.
The man then entered a home and began to block the home’s entrances, officials stated.
Officers ordered neighborhood residents to shelter in place. Vancouver police said one of their officers then shot the armed man.
“At approximately 2:36 a.m., officers saw the suspect standing at a sliding door of the residence armed with a rifle and wearing what appeared to be a ballistic helmet and a gas mask,” a press release from Vancouver police stated. “A Vancouver Police Officer, who is a member of the SW Washington Regional SWAT team, fired his weapon at the suspect.”
The man died at the scene. Police have not yet named him or any of the officers involved.
No police officers were physically injured. The officer who shot the man and the officer inside the armored vehicle at the time it was shot were placed on administrative leave while the Lower Columbia Major Crimes Team conducts an investigation.
Both the Clark County Sheriff’s Office and Vancouver Police Department equip their officers with body-worn cameras. Since implementing the cameras, Southwest Washington police have typically reviewed the footage before releasing it to the public for police shootings. A February shooting by sheriff’s deputies at a RV park and a June shooting by Vancouver police at that city’s waterfront were both captured on body cameras and eventually released to the public.
Vancouver police confirmed they intend to release their footage at a later date.