WENATCHEE — The man shot and wounded by police Sunday after authorities say he fired into an empty Veterans Affairs clinic was identified as Army veteran Troy Allen McMaster of East Wenatchee.
Investigators believe McMaster rammed the Department of Veterans Affairs Elwood “Bud” Link Community-Based Outpatient Clinic in Olds Station with a pickup truck and then fired shots into the building.
He was pursued by members of the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office and Wenatchee Police Department to the 2500 block of Eastmont Avenue outside East Wenatchee where he was shot multiple times following an armed confrontation, according to the North Central Washington Special Investigation Unit.
McMaster, 54, was later arrested on suspicion of first-degree assault, first-degree malicious mischief and unlawful discharge of a firearm.
No officers were wounded in the shooting.
The Special Investigation Unit identified McMaster in a news release Wednesday afternoon.
The officers and deputies involved in the shooting were placed on administrative leave, a standard procedure. Their identities were not released. It’s not clear how many law enforcement officers were involved in the shooting.
McMaster served in the U.S. Army from November 1987 to November 1991 as a military police officer, according to Lt. Colonel Ruth Castro, Army spokesperson. He deployed to Southwest Asia from August 1990 to April 1991. He held the rank of specialist at the end of his enlistment.
After the shooting, McMaster was transported to Confluence Health Hospital in Wenatchee and then airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle where he underwent surgery Monday, according to Douglas County Undersheriff Tyler Caille.
He moved out of the intensive care unit Tuesday and was in satisfactory condition, said Harborview spokeswoman Susan Gregg.
Douglas County deputies were first alerted to McMaster after they received a report at 8:42 p.m. Sunday that McMaster was sending text messages saying he wanted to harm himself. Attempts by deputies to contact him were unsuccessful.
He was located by police at 10:05 p.m. at the VA clinic. McMaster fled and was pursued into Douglas County where his vehicle stopped on the 2500 block of Eastmont Avenue, the news release said.
Investigators say he exited the vehicle and confronted police while armed with a firearm and was shot and wounded by the officers at 11:16 p.m.
The clinic was closed Monday and Tuesday and reopened Wednesday, according to Bret Bowers, spokesman for the Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center in Spokane. Services have been offered to employees to help with stress or anxiety.
The shooting will be investigated by the Special Investigation Unit. It’s made up of the Chelan County Sheriff’s Office, Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, Okanogan County Sheriff’s Office, East Wenatchee Police Department, Wenatchee Police Department, and Washington State Patrol.
The Special Investigation Unit does not expect to release more information about the shooting until next week.
