LONGVIEW — Brian Butts was carrying a semi-automatic handgun and about 45 grams of suspected methamphetamine — between $2,000 and $3,000 worth — when officers confronted and killed him the night of April 14, according to a press release Monday from the Clark County Sheriff’s Office.
Forensic analysis of that gun is underway to see what connection it might have to the death of Cowlitz County sheriff’s Deputy Justin DeRosier, who police say Butts shot April 13 while DeRosier was responding to a report of a motor home blocking a road in Kalama.
Investigators say DeRosier made it back to his patrol vehicle after he was shot, and two Kalama police officers arrived to rescue him. Despite efforts to save his life after he was taken by Life Flight to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center in Vancouver, DeRosier died the following morning from a gunshot wound to the chest.
Following a 22-hour manhunt for DeRosier’s shooter, two Kelso police officers confronted Butts on Spencer Creek Road in Kalama after he emerged from the woods armed with the handgun, investigators said. The two officers shot and killed Butts. On April 16, police indicated that Butts fired at the officers when they encountered him. Kelso Police Chief Andrew Hamilton said that day that the officers “returned fire” when they encountered Butts.
A memorial service for DeRosier will be at 1 p.m. Wednesday at The Earle A. & Virginia H. Chiles Center at the University of Portland.
