[1]Law enforcement officers examine the scene of the shooting this morning at the intersection of West Vine Street and Second Avenue in Napavine.
This news story was updated at 10:45 a.m.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
NAPAVINE – A Lewis County sheriff’s deputy shot and killed a man early this morning in Napavine.
Deputies were assisting the Napavine Police Department with a call to a burglary in progress, in which a man reportedly armed with a knife was trying to break into a home, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.
The deputy observed a suspect a short time later; the suspect refused to take his hands out of his pockets and then charged the deputy, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.
The deputy shot the man who was pronounced dead at the scene, according to Chief Civil Deputy Stacy Brown. It happened at 2:12 a.m., according to Brown.
The deceased is a 33-year-old Napavine resident, according to Brown.
The burglary call was on Fifth Avenue Northwest; the deputy was situated “on containment” on Third Avenue Northwest, according to the news release.
A team of outside investigators were on the scene this morning.
The Regional Shooting Response Team is made up of law enforcement officers from the counties of Thurston, Mason, Pacific, Grays Harbor and Lewis, according to Lewis County Sheriff Steve Mansfield.
The investigation into today’s shooting doesn’t include a member from Lewis County, Mansfield said.
The incident began with a call to a house where the man left stab marks through the door and several stab marks on a vehicle; it was some kind of dispute, the sheriff’s office said this morning.
“So somebody’s acting pretty violently,” Chief Brown said.
Napavine Police Department Officer-in-charge Silas Elwood said the house wasn’t randomly chosen; there was a relation between the resident and the man.
Napavine Officer Noel Shields responded to the 911 call, as well at at least two deputies, according to authorities.
The name of the dead man has not been released. His body lay this morning in the street at the intersection of West Vine Street and Second Avenue, several blocks from the targeted house.
Inside yellow police tape were a large white crime investigation van belonging to the regional response team and numerous law enforcement officers.
Nearby neighbor Don Webster said he heard shots in the night, but didn’t think a lot of it.
“I heard gunshots, four, rapid,” Webster said.
He thought it might be someone shooting at animals, like raccoons and didn’t hear more afterward, he said.
The deputy was not injured. His name has not been released.
He has been placed on administrative leave as is standard procedure, according to Mansfield.
The sheriff said it appears the deputy followed protocol, but “that’s why we’re doing the investigation.”
The last time a Lewis County sheriff’s deputy fatally shot someone was in 2002, when Deputy Hal Sprouse shot a man as the two struggled in a ground fight in the Rochester area, according to Brown.
[2]Law enforcement officers examine the scene of the shooting this morning at the intersection of West Vine Street and Second Avenue in Napavine.