Man wields gun and knife in Wash. K-9 before fatal OIS

By Becca Robbins
Colombian, Vancouver, Washington.

VANCOUVER, Wash. — Police body camera and in-car video show a man pulling what appears to be a gun from his pocket immediately before four Vancouver police officers shot him on June 17 in downtown Vancouver.

In a video compilation released Tuesday by Vancouver police, the man, identified last week as Jonathan West Nelson, appears to shout “I’m ready to die” as a police K-9 dog runs toward him. As the dog bites Nelson, he can be seen pulling out a gun with his right hand before nearby police officers quickly shoot him. The video also shows Nelson clutching what appears to be a knife in his left hand.

The video shows officers providing medical aid to a 40-year-old Vancouver man. The Clark County Sheriff’s Office, which is investigating the shooting as part of the Southwest Washington Independent Investigative Response Team, pronounced him dead at the hospital.

Click below to see the full video.

Police dog K-9 Remi was hit in the tail by gunshots. He underwent surgery at an emergency veterinary hospital and was released on June 18. The sheriff’s office said Tuesday that Remi was doing well. The recording does not show who shot Remi.

The video shows that officers were driving on the 2800 block of Northeast Andresen Road at 12:51 a.m. when three people stopped them. The group reported that a man stared at them as they parked in a McDonald’s parking lot, then pulled out a gun and pointed it at them. During a chaotic interrogation, the three stated that they thought the man was going to shoot them.

Police established probable cause of first-degree assault and additional officers responded to the scene. They found Nelson walking on the sidewalk in the 2400 block of Northeast Andresen Road, the video states.

Several police SUVs slowly followed Nelson for more than two minutes along Andresen. Sgt. Greg Catton can be heard over the public address system ordering the suspect to stop and announcing that he was under arrest. Nelson can be seen on the video continuing to walk away from the officers who were following him.

In the recording, Catton can be heard telling Nelson, “This isn’t going to end well for you,” before asking if other officers have the less-lethal 40mm device. The video shows a large police response, with multiple officers shouting commands at Nelson. Catton then tells Officer Jason Haigwood to direct K-9 Remi at Nelson.

Investigators on Tuesday identified Haigwood, Sgt. James Kelly, Officer Justin Reiner and Officer Philip Wilkening as the officers who shot Nelson.

Haigwood, a K-9 handler, has been with the Vancouver Police Department since 2019. He and Remi were assigned to the east patrol, according to the sheriff’s office.

Kelly has been with the Vancouver Police Department since 2015. He previously worked at the Longview Police Department and as a reserve deputy with the Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office. Investigators say he was promoted to Vancouver Police sergeant in 2022 and assigned to the Western Patrol.

Reiner has been with the Vancouver Police Service since May 2020 and is assigned to the Western Patrol. He previously worked for the Maui Police Department. Wilkening was hired by Vancouver police in July 2020. According to the sheriff’s office, he is assigned to the Eastern Patrol.

As is typical with police shootings, officers are now on leave following serious incidents.

The shooting was the second fatal police shooting in Vancouver this month. Vancouver police fatally shot 43-year-old Vadim V. Sashchenko on June 8 while responding to a call about an aggressive dog.

___

(c) 2024 The Columbian (Vancouver, Washington)
Visit The Columbian (Vancouver, Washington) at www.columbian.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.