Vancouver police have released the names of the five officers involved in a shooting that killed a suspect carrying an Airsoft-type replica rifle that resembles an AR-15 semi-automatic weapon.
The five Vancouver police officers, working patrol during the Tuesday night incident, were Brent Donaldson, Christopher Douville, Eric McCaleb, Timothy Pfeifer and Colton Price, the Vancouver Police Department reported in a press release.
The officers were called to Alder Creek Apartments, 11716 N.E. 49th St., just before 11 p.m. for a report of a domestic violence call.
An argument between a man and a woman escalated when the man, who was reported to be armed, set an apartment on fire, according to police.
The officers entered the apartment complex on foot and encountered a man in the parking lot carrying what appeared to be an AR-15 type weapon, police said.
After the man refused to comply with officers’ commands to put the weapon down, the officers fired at him, according to police. He died at the scene.
Witnesses said they heard about five shots.
The identity of the 31-year-old man was not released pending notification of his next of kin. As of Friday, they still had not been located.
Police later determined that the weapon the dead man was holding was an Airsoft-type AR-15 replica.
The man had been a guest of the residents of the apartment where he’d set the fire; no one else was in the apartment at the time, police said.
A female he threatened with the weapon in the parking lot was not associated with the man and was not injured.
The Regional Major Crimes Team is continuing the investigation into the officer-involved shooting, with the Clark County Sheriff’s Office acting as the lead agency. All five officers are on paid administrative leave, the department statement said.
Together, the officers have about 23 combined years of experience with the Vancouver Police Department. Donaldson, 44, started with Vancouver police in July 2005. McCaleb, 34, started in December 2006. Douville, 30, was hired in April 2013; Price, 25, in November 2012; and Pfeifer, 34, in November 2011.
Donaldson, McCaleb and Price have all been recognized for their police work through departmental awards and letters of appreciation from police officials, the release said. Donaldson was recognized for his service during a July 2007 hostage incident. McCaleb has received the department’s lifesaving award, and Price received a letter of appreciation from Clark County Sheriff Garry Lucas for his role in handling a disturbance involving a weapon in September 2013.
