The man fatally shot by Clark County sheriff’s deputies early Sunday morning pointed a gun at deputies before they shot him, according to the Vancouver Police Department. The agency said that when officers found the man, dead, he still had the gun in his hand with his finger on the trigger.
The Clark County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the man as Kfin Karuo, 26, of Vancouver. His cause of death was ruled as a gunshot wound to the torso.
Vancouver police Tuesday morning released the first update on the shooting since Sunday. The Southwest Washington Independent Investigative Response Team is investigating the shooting, with Vancouver police as the lead agency.
Two sheriff’s deputies were placed on critical incident leave following standard protocol, according to Vancouver police.
Clark County sheriff’s deputies tried to stop a car at 2:22 a.m. associated with a person suspected of first-degree assault with a handgun, Vancouver police stated Tuesday. Deputies said the suspect refused to stop so they gave chase. Deputies performed a pursuit intervention technique, or PIT, maneuver, and the suspect’s SUV skidded to a halt on a berm along Northeast 49th Street.
After the man was shot, he fled a short distance on foot, according to Vancouver police.
Residents in the mobile home park next to the berm where the suspect’s car was stopped found the man dead in a driveway, partially under a car. Some said that his body remained there for hours, uncovered, before the body was collected around 11 a.m.
Several bullets also struck houses in the mobile home park.
The investigative response team consists of detectives from the Vancouver Police Department, the Battle Ground Police Department and the Camas Police Department. Two non-law enforcement community members are also involved in the investigation, Vancouver police stated.
The Clark County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office will review the case once the response team has finished its investigation.
The NAACP Vancouver questioned the transparency of the investigation in a Monday statement.
“What we do know is there are several questions we need answers to, and many of these questions could be answered if there was bodycam footage available, but instead we are stuck here wondering, and hoping an accurate report of what happened is shared,” President of the Vancouver branch Jasmine Tolbert stated. “We hope an independent, open, and transparent investigation required by the new legislation, is conducted promptly to answer questions and relieve the anxiety these shootings cause in the community.”
