Officers in Tuesday chase, fatal shooting after robbery identified

The Vancouver Police Department has identified the three officers who shot a credit union robbery suspect in a gunfight just east of the city Tuesday as Cpl. James Burgara, 55; Officer Erik Jennings, 45; and Officer Richard Rich, 46.

Police released the officers’ identities Wednesday following a Tuesday incident that began when a man with a rifle wearing a ski mask robbed the iQ Credit Union branch, 15705 N.E. Fourth Plain Blvd., on Tuesday afternoon. He fled in a vehicle, hopped into another car parked nearby, then led officers on a short chase.

After officers ran him off the road near the intersection of Northeast 182nd Avenue and Northeast 73rd Street, the suspect and the three officers exchanged weapons fire. The suspect, who had not been identified as of Wednesday afternoon, was shot and killed.

The Vancouver Police Department hired Burgara in 1998. Previously, he worked at the Sacramento, Calif., County Sheriff’s Office from 1983 to 1986, then the Clark County Sheriff’s Office from 1986 to 1998. According to the department, he has worked in patrol, as a K-9 officer and, currently, as a neighborhood police officer.

The department hired Jennings in 2000 from the Garden City, Kan., Police Department, where he had worked from 1996 to 2000. He worked in patrol, then as part of the East Precinct Neighborhood Response Team, according to Vancouver police. He’s currently a neighborhood police officer.

Rich was hired in 2005. Before, he worked with the Forest Grove, Ore., Police Department, from 1996 to 1998, then the Battle Ground Police Department, from 1998 to 2003. Rich was assigned to the background and patrol units, then worked as a detective, before returning to the patrol unit for his current assignment.

Vancouver police said the Regional Major Crimes Team’s investigation into the shooting is ongoing. All three officers are on paid leave, per standard department practice when officers use their weapons.