A man suspected of stealing a vehicle from a Vancouver-area driveway Friday morning was killed in an officer-involved shooting a few blocks away.
The incident began at about 6:20 a.m. when the man, whose name has not been released, confronted the owner of a vehicle at 5804 N.E. 41st Circle, in the Roads End neighborhood north of Highway 500 and west of Northeast Andresen Road.
The man climbed into the car, a 2014 Honda Accord, and rammed it into the garage before fleeing, according to emergency radio traffic monitored by The Columbian.
The person who called 911 to report the car theft reportedly fired a gun into the air, according to emergency radio traffic.
Neighbor Norese Massenburg said he awoke upon hearing the gunshots. When he investigated, he learned that his neighbor had been trying to prevent the theft.
“The gunshots were (my neighbor) firing warning shots at the guy to get out of his car,” he said.
Based on the information from that incident, the man who took the car was believed to be armed, Vancouver Police Department Spokeswoman Kim Kapp said.
The man drove away in the Honda, but crashed into a parked activities bus at Vancouver Pointe Senior Living, 4555 N.E. 66th Ave., a few blocks away, police said.
He bailed out of the wrecked Honda and fled on foot, running through the senior living facility’s lobby and into a neighboring apartment complex, Springfield Meadows Apartments at 4317 N.E. 66th Ave., Kapp said.
He then entered a second-floor apartment occupied by a father and his four children, Kapp said.
Officers and deputies followed and forcefully entered the apartment, Kapp said. A Vancouver police officer shot and killed an armed man they found in a bedroom, Kapp said.
The family inside the apartment and responding officers were not injured, Kapp said. She did not know if any threats had been made to the family.
“We do not believe he knows the occupants of that apartment at all,” Kapp said.
The Vancouver police officer who shot the man was placed on critical incident leave, which is the agency’s policy, Kapp said. Detectives with the Southwest Washington Regional Major Crimes Team are investigating.
