Clark County to pay $1.25 million to settle 2020 fatal shooting of man during drug sting

Almost four years after a regional drug force task team killed 21-year-old Kevin Peterson Jr. during an erratic drug sting, Clark County has agreed to pay Peterson’s family $1.25 million dollars.

The settlement comes days after a federal judge ordered the family and the county into mediation over the family’s wrongful death lawsuit. The case was headed to federal trial next month.

Clark County officials said in statements Wednesday that despite the settlement, they stood by their deputies’ actions.

“While the loss of life is always tragic, I fully support the actions of my deputies, who acted in accordance with their training and the law to protect themselves and our community,” said Sheriff John Horch in a prepared statement.

Attorneys for Peterson‘s family said the settlement shows “an urgent need for improved training” at the Clark County Sheriff’s Office.

“While no amount of money can bring Kevin back, we hope this outcome serves as a step toward meaningful change,” said attorney Angus Lee.

The settlement closes the book on one of the highest profile police shootings in Southwest Washington in recent years. Peterson’s death — which came at the tail end of social justice protests in Portland and across the country — prompted several demonstrations in Clark County and in Vancouver.

The case led to the resignation of a local judge. Months after the shooting, Clark County Judge Darvin Zimmerman was caught on a hot mic calling Peterson “the Black guy they were trying to make an angel out of.”

Peterson died on Oct. 29, 2020, while running away from a so-called “buy-bust” drug sting.

The regional task force set up the meeting at a motel parking lot in the unincorporated community of Hazel Dell. They planned to buy 50 Xanax pills from Peterson, who used the Snapchat username $pla$h.

Before the encounter, records show, deputies were already on edge. One of Peterson’s Snapchat posts included lyrics to a rap song, saying “Crackers catch me n act then ima feed the law,” with emojis of a water pistol aimed at a police officer.

When Peterson pulled into the motel parking lot, deputies boxed him in with their vehicles. One officer called over the radio that Peterson carried a gun. Peterson then fled on foot around the property.

He eventually wound up at a neighboring property, a defunct bank, where he came face-to-face with deputies Robert Anderson, Jeremy Brown and Jonathan Feller.

Peterson, court records show, was on a video call with his girlfriend at the time. With the deputies approaching, he turned and ran again. This time, the deputies pulled the trigger.

Anderson later told investigators that he feared Peterson would turn another corner and face more deputies, whose safety Anderson feared for.

“I kinda just drew the line in the sand and I was — I said, ‘I’ve given suspect enough commands. If he takes another step, I’m gonna shoot him,’” Anderson later told investigators. “He continued to run, I started shooting.”

The family’s wrongful death claim relied heavily on that split-second decision to shoot. They argued that Peterson did not present a serious threat when they shot.

Clark County Prosecuting Attorney Tony Golik said Wednesday that deputies didn’t need Peterson to act any more dangerously in that situation.

“There was no legal requirement for the officers to allow Mr. Peterson to fire first before defending themselves,” Golik said in a prepared statement. He noted that “similarly situated reasonable” police officers would have made the same decision.

After the first volley of shots, Peterson stumbled to the ground. Then he set up and held up an object. Deputies fired again. Combined, they fired an estimated 34 rounds.

Peterson’s family and the county have long disputed what exactly Peterson held up. The family said he was on a video call with his girlfriend while deputies maintained it was a handgun that he carried.

Months afterward, a panel of independent prosecutors found the deputies deemed the justified shooting.

Some of the deputies involved have been in the news since the shooting. Jeremy Brown was shot and killed in 2021 while investigating a string of weapons thefts.

State records indicate Anderson left the Clark County Sheriff’s Office near the end of 2021.

Feller in 2022 mistakenly shot and killed an off-duty Vancouver Police Department officer. He still works at Clark County Sheriff‘s Office but is no longer on patrol. An agency official said he now helps with the agency’s body-worn camera program.

County spokesperson Joni McAnally said that the $1.25 million dollar settlement will be paid by the county and its insurers.

“This settlement allows the parties to move on from this unfortunate event,” McAnally said.