Family and friends of Kevin Peterson Jr. held a vigil Friday evening in Hazel Dell marking the one-year anniversary of his death by Clark County sheriff’s deputies.
Peterson, a 21-year-old Black man, was fatally shot by three deputies as he ran, armed with a handgun, from a planned drug sale of Xanax pills between him and a confidential informant outside the Quality Inn motel on the evening of Oct. 29, 2020.
The shooting occurred shortly before 6 p.m. in the parking lot of a shuttered U.S. Bank branch, 6829 N.E. Highway 99, adjacent to the motel.
In August, a prosecutor’s office, outside of the county, tasked with reviewing the shooting found the deputies’ use of deadly force was justified and lawful.
Peterson’s shooting prompted demonstrations in Hazel Dell and downtown Vancouver decrying the killing of a Black man by law enforcement officers.
His family filed a tort claim for wrongful death in March against Clark County, alleging Peterson was shot in the back as he ran away. An attorney representing the family told The Columbian they plan to file a lawsuit this fall. (The finding on the deputies’ use of deadly force is separate from the civil litigation.)
Peterson’s vigil comes about two weeks after two deputies fatally shot Kfin Karuo, 28, in east Vancouver during a high-risk traffic stop as part of an investigation into a previous assault with a firearm. Investigators said Karuo pointed a handgun at pursuing deputies. That incident is still under investigation.
