The man fatally shot Sunday morning by Vancouver police officers during a disturbance call at an east Vancouver mobile home park has been identified as 45-year-old Luis A. Ku Huitzil.
Ku Huitzil, whose city of residence was unknown, died of multiple gunshot wounds, according to the Clark County Medical Examiner’s Office. His death was ruled a homicide, meaning it resulted from another person’s deliberate action. The ruling does not make any judgments about criminal culpability.
Four Vancouver police officers involved in the shooting were placed on critical incident leave, which is standard protocol. They have not yet been identified. Authorities have not said whether all four fired their guns or how many shots were fired.
None of the involved officers were wearing body cameras. The Vancouver Police Department announced Monday that its 60-day trial period for a camera vendor ended early at the end of December.
Vancouver police were called at 12:25 a.m. for a reported disturbance with a weapon at the Sky Ridge Estates mobile home park in the 13200 block of Northeast 59th Street. A resident said a male acquaintance was inside their home armed with knives, according to a police department news release.
The caller and several others in the home, including two children, had locked themselves inside their bedrooms, the news release states.
As police responded, it was believed the man had started a fire inside the house. The people inside were able to safely climb through windows to escape as officers arrived. Police said they could smell something burning, according to the news release.
The suspect was also outside the home and confronted officers with a knife, police said. Officers shot the man after he could not be subdued with a less-lethal 40 mm device, according to the department.
He was taken to a local hospital where he died. The medical examiner’s office said Ku Huitzil was wounded in the street of the mobile home park.
A neighbor’s home security camera captured audio of the shooting. A woman can be heard shouting, “Put it down,” before a burst of about a dozen gunshots.
The SW Washington Independent Investigative Response Team, led by the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, is investigating the shooting.
