A Clark County Prosecutor’s Office review found the Vancouver police officer who shot and killed a man who barged into an apartment building in February was justified in opening fire.
Justin A. Burton, 25, of Vancouver, allegedly stole a car after getting into a confrontation with its owner the morning of Feb. 10, according to police records and the prosecutor’s office’s review.
Later, Burton crashed the car at the Vancouver Pointe Senior Village at 4555 N.E. 66th Ave., less than a mile west of Vancouver Mall.
By the time police had arrived, a man seen walking around the parking lot, later identified as Burton, had run to an adjacent apartment complex, Springfield Meadows, at 4317 N.E. 66th Ave.
There, a man called out from a window to tell police an intruder had entered his apartment.
The man and his roommate’s four children were inside, and the intruder carried a knife, the tenants told The Columbian.
The five hid in one of the bedrooms.
Vancouver police Officer Ed Letarte and two sheriff’s deputies went to the apartment and forced their way inside. It appeared to the officers someone was holding the door.
At one point, when the three managed to partially open the door, Deputy Dan Brown saw a knife in Burton’s hand.
After they got through, Deputy Jesse Henselt tried using his Taser to shock Burton when he refused to freeze and then ran down a hall.
Letarte told the prosecutor’s office that officers knew there were children in the apartment, and that he heard the cries of a little girl.
Letarte fired his gun three times as Burton ran into a bedroom and started closing the door behind him. Burton fell to the floor.
The three officers entered the room, handcuffed Burton, checked for injuries and attempted to render first aid but Burton had died, according to the prosecutor’s office.
The prosecutor’s office said Letarte had probable cause to believe Burton posed a threat of serious physical harm to others, and acted within the bounds of state and federal law when he shot Burton.
“It is my considered opinion that the conduct of Officer Letarte involved the objectively reasonable and justifiable application of deadly force under the circumstances then confronting him and others,” Chief Deputy Prosecutor Scott Jackson wrote in the review. “The conduct of Officer Letarte, in the circumstances with which he was presented, was reasonable, justifiable and lawful.”
No one else was injured.
Letarte has been working in the Vancouver Police Department since September 1998, and spent time in the domestic violence unit, on the regional SWAT team and currently is assigned to the west precinct, according to the department.
