A deputy from the Clark County Sheriff’s Office was among the four officers who fired shots at an armed robbery suspect who was killed on May 30, according to law enforcement.
The deputy, whose name has not been released, and three detectives from the Vancouver Police Department exchanged fire in a Safeway parking lot with the suspect who was fatally shot, a release from VPD stated.
At about 5:30 p.m. on May 30, a detective with the Vancouver Police Department’s Neighborhood Response Team spotted a man driving in the 6700 block of East Mill Plain Boulevard, the release stated. The detective recognized the man as a suspect who was wanted for multiple armed robberies that happened recently.
Two additional VPD detectives arrived in the area and saw the suspect park at and enter the Safeway at the corner of Mill Plain Boulevard and Andresen Road, the release stated. When the suspect exited the store, he noticed the detectives, dropped a bag of items and showed a gun.
The suspect ran through the parking lot and fired at the officers who attempted to apprehend him, according to the release. Three VPD personnel, along with the sheriff’s deputy, returned fire and shot the suspect.
The suspect received medical aid but was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the release. No officers were injured during the incident.
The officers and the sheriff’s deputy have been placed on critical incident leave per their respective agencies’ policies, the release stated.
Information in the release was preliminary as the investigation, which is being handled by the Lower Columbia Major Crimes Team, is ongoing. Personnel from the Vancouver Police Department or the Clark County Sheriff’s Office will not be involved with the investigation.
The Vancouver Police Department also notified the newly-established Washington State Office of Independent Investigations, the release stated. The office is not actively investigating cases at this time, according to the office’s website.
The Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office is the agency managing the investigation, according to the release. As of press deadline, the office did not issue an update in the case.
The Vancouver Police Department and the Clark County Sheriff’s Office have yet to release the names of the officers and the deputy involved in the incident. On June 5 the Clark County medical examiner identified the suspect as Joshua Wilson, 43, of Vancouver.
The Vancouver police detectives were wearing body cameras during the shooting. During a public forum on June 1, Clark County Sheriff John Horch said he believed the footage from the shooting would be released the following week.
