Residents of a mobile home where four Vancouver police officers shot a man Jan. 9 had called 911 five times in a 14-hour span the day before the fatal police encounter to report issues with the living situation.
Less than 24 hours later, police responded at 12:25 a.m. for a reported disturbance with a weapon at the residence in the Sky Ridge Estates mobile home park in east Vancouver.
A man, later identified as Luis Antonio Ku Huitzil, confronted officers with a meat cleaver and knife, and was shot after he couldn’t be subdued with a less-lethal 40 mm device, according to investigators. He later died at a hospital.
Officer Christopher Bohatch, 37, fired the less-lethal round, and Officers Ryne Briley, 32, Timothy Pfeifer, 41, and Monica Hernandez, 42, fired six, 11 and two rounds, respectively, from department-issued firearms, according to investigative records.
Ku Huitzil, 45, suffered 15 gunshot wounds to his torso, legs, arms and buttocks, in addition to a bruise on his back believed to be from the less-lethal round. However, only one round that went through his heart was believed to be lethal, according to autopsy findings.
The information was contained in 460 pages of investigative reports released Friday by the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office in response to The Columbian’s public records request. The records also included three videos from home surveillance cameras.
The report states that officers would have had probable cause to arrest Ku Huitzil for first-degree assault and felony harassment.
New roommate
Ku Huitzil, also known as Pedro Torres, had moved into the mobile home Jan. 8. The primary residents were a married couple, and the wife had allowed an adult son, his child and another roommate to live there. The roommate worked with Ku Huitzil and invited him to also live there, with permission from the wife, investigative records state.
The husband, however, took issue with the living situation. He called 911 at 7:38 a.m. Jan. 8 to report that too many people were living at the residence, and there were too many vehicles in the driveway. He said he didn’t get along with the roommates, according to investigative reports.
The situation apparently escalated later that morning. Ku Huitzil called 911 at 10:19 a.m. to report that the husband was following and recording him as he moved in. He said the husband broke one of his Christmas decorations. Police responded to take the report, the records state.
Then, around midnight, as the couple got ready for bed, the wife smelled something burning in the kitchen. When she went to investigate, she found beans and soap all over the counters and floor. Ku Huitzil was standing there with a knife in each hand. He told her he was cleaning the kitchen, according to investigative reports.
The wife tried to get Ku Huitzil to hand over the knives, but he refused. He said he believed the other residents were trying to poison him with a gallon of milk. He demanded that she drink the milk in front of him, and she complied. He then told her to come closer so that he could reunite her with her son who had recently died, the investigative documents state.
Ku Huitzil then put on a jacket and said he was going to die tonight. He went outside and broke the window of her husband’s vehicle. The husband came outside to see what was happening, and Ku Huitzil appeared to be confused and didn’t recognize him. Ku Huitzil then charged at the husband, as if he was going to stab him, according to investigators. The couple rushed to their bedroom and called 911.
‘Animalistic’ noises
The incident prompted all of the residents and an adult son who was visiting to lock themselves in their bedrooms. Responding officers helped them escape through windows around 12:40 a.m., investigative records state.
Officers initially believed Ku Huitzil was still inside the mobile home. But as officers spoke with the residents, Ku Huitzil came from behind, an estimated 20 to 30 feet away, with the knives still in hand. Multiple officers yelled for him to drop the knives, but he refused, the investigative records show.
Briley said Ku Huitzil began to scream and grunt in an “animalistic” way as he charged at the officers and residents. He said he felt Ku Huitzil would have killed the residents or officers if he wasn’t stopped, according to investigative records.
“I was very fearful,” Briley said during an interview with investigators on Jan. 13. “It was almost like time kind of stood still. And it was like a, ‘Oh crap, this has to stop’ type of moment. I was very fearful for (the residents) and obviously my fellow officers.”
Bohatch said he shouted at Ku Huitzil what he thought was Spanish for “Put your hands up.” He subsequently fired the less-lethal round, which appeared to have no effect. Then the other officers immediately fired their weapons. An officer reported shots fired at 12:43 a.m., the investigative records show.
One round struck another mobile home, and some Christmas yard inflatables and a wooden trellis were also hit, according to the investigative reports. No one was injured.
All of the officers who fired their weapons were interviewed a few days after the shooting. Each said they either feared for their lives, the lives of fellow officers on scene or the residents.
Ku Huitzil’s co-worker and roommate later described him to police as paranoid and using alcohol and maybe methamphetamine.
Investigators found Ku Huitzil had a Mexican driver’s license and a Social Security card under the Torres alias. He apparently used the alias to obtain fraudulent identification. They also discovered he had criminal history between 1998 and 2009 in California for felony assault, possession of a controlled substance, assault with a deadly weapon, driving under the influence and felony domestic violence assault.
