PORT ORCHARD – Sheriff Steve Boyer has asked the Washington State Patrol to investigate the officer-involved shooting of a 44-year-old man in Port Orchard on Dec. 31.
The Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office issued this account of the incident late Dec. 31:
An investigation is under way concerning the use of lethal force, with gunshots fired, during an encounter by Kitsap County Sheriff’s patrol deputies with a 44-year-old man the afternoon of Dec. 31.
The incident occurred on residential property in the 8400 block of Bethel Burley Road SE in South Kitsap.
No sheriff’s personnel were injured. The suspect was transported to St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma for treatment of gunshot injuries. As of early evening Dec. 31, he was listed in serious condition.
At the request of Sheriff Steve Boyer, the investigation into this shooting is being conducted by Washington State Patrol.
Sheriff’s deputies went to the address shortly after 1 p.m., following a request for assistance to check on the safety and welfare of a 42-year-old woman. A caller reported that she was concerned for her sister’s safety as there was a restraining order in effect prohibiting contact between the 44-year-old man and her sister.
The caller added that she had been unable to make contact with her sister; that the suspect has a history of violence toward her sister; that he has a firearm; and she feared that her sister was being controlled by the suspect and prevented from communicating with others.
Deputies confirmed that a no-contact order was in effect, issued Sept. 17, listing the 42 year-old woman as the protected person and the suspect as the respondent.
Four deputies and a sheriff’s sergeant went to the address. Additional information provided to deputies, while en route, described a chaotic scene at the residence and that the suspect was armed.
At 1:11 p.m., during a confrontation with the suspect in the driveway, gunshots were reported fired. Immediate secondary response assistance was provided by on-duty sheriff’s patrol deputies and detectives, with outside agencies including Port Orchard Police Department, South Kitsap Fire & Rescue and Washington State Patrol.
Per agency policy, the deputies involved in this incident have been temporarily placed on administrative assignment, pending completion of the WSP investigation and subsequent administrative investigation by the sheriff’s office.
