EVERETT — Investigators are trying to piece together the events late Wednesday that led an Everett police veteran to fatally shoot a suspected drunken driver in a Corvette.
The Snohomish County man was in his early 50s, officials said. His identity was not immediately released.
An Everett police officer with 11 years’ experience fired at the man about 11:30 p.m. in a parking lot behind Patty’s Eggnest-Chuckwagon Inn in the 6700 block of Evergreen Way, Snohomish County sheriff’s spokeswoman Rebecca Hover said.
Several people had called 911.
“He was preparing to drive drunk and people were concerned about that,” Hover said.
Officers used an electronic stun gun to try to subdue the man. A witness said the man was in the driver’s seat and the engine was running.
“He kept going,” Hover said.
The car lurched forward into a fence. The force of the impact caused the fence to buckle, knocking down a bystander.
Shots were fired and the man died, Hover said.
A special multi-agency task force of detectives trained to handle officer-involved deaths will lead the investigation, she said.
Detectives will look into the suspect’s actions and the officer’s response, including the use of the stun gun and the handgun.
Elizabeth Thornes said she was the person who was knocked down by the fence.
Earlier in the night, she had pleaded with the man not to drive, she said.
She said she first encountered him while standing on the smoking deck behind the Chuckwagon.
The man appeared drunk. She and others asked him not to drive. He began calling the women names, Thornes said.
“Please go in and let the bartender have your keys and call you a cab,” Thornes, 40, remembered saying.
The man brushed off the request.
Police arrived and hemmed in the man’s white Corvette with their patrol cars, Thornes said.
When the man saw the cops, he took off running. Somehow, he managed to get to his car and start it up.
Thornes said she heard the officers yelling at the man, telling him to shut off the car and get out.
She said she saw them use the electric stun gun.
The car’s engine revved; it lurched forward into a fence. Thornes was knocked down by the fence.
“When I stood up, all I heard was pop, pop, pop,” she said.
Thornes believed as many as six shots were fired.
Officers pulled the man from behind the wheel and tried to revive him. Thornes said she assisted.
She recalled that he was wearing a Harley-Davidson T-shirt and jeans. He died at the scene.
“Events unfolded quickly,” Hover said.
Hover said she couldn’t confirm all the details of the witness’s account.
Investigators believe an Everett officer, 41, was the only one to fire a handgun. He’s now been placed on leave.
By mid-morning, the white Corvette, the rear window covered in a yellow tarp, was loaded onto a flatbed tow truck and hauled away to a police evidence yard.
Snohomish County prosecutors will review the case and decide whether the officer’s lethal force was justified.
The Snohomish County Medical Examiner is expected to do an autopsy.
The Snohomish County Multi-Agency Response Team, or SMART, is leading the investigation. SMART is a team of investigators made up of homicide detectives from around Snohomish County.
They’ll likely investigate all aspects of the incident, including the use of the stun gun, also called a Taser.
Tasers can be effective tools for subduing people, including those who are drunk or high on drugs, said Washington State Patrol Cpl. Kevin Forrester. He trains troopers to use Tasers, which deliver five-second-long electric shocks.
The patrol’s policy prohibits troopers from using the stun guns in certain situations, including when flammable liquids are present. It also restricts Taser use in other situations, such as when a subject is operating a vehicle or if the person has a firearm.
“There’s too many any unknowns after a deployment when someone is sitting behind the wheel, especially if the car is running,” he said.
Still, troopers are allowed to use their discretion and sometimes do effectively use Tasers on people in vehicles.
Forrester, who is not investigating the Everett shooting, cautioned against speculating.
“Folks are going to jump to any kinds of conclusions,” he said. “We don’t know any of that.”
Detectives likely will want to know if the Taser deployment late Wednesday was successful, meaning that the man received a debilitating electric shock, he said.
Tasers create an electric circuit using two prongs that are fired into the suspect. If the probes don’t create a circuit, the Taser may enrage, but not incapacitate, a suspect.
At the same time, if the probes create a circuit and current races through a suspect’s body, it is possible for the muscles to contract, he said.
Detectives will need to determine why the car accelerated, Forrester said.
The King County Sheriff’s Office also encourages its deputies to avoid using a Taser on someone in a confined space, such as a car, or when the suspect is resisting arrest by hanging onto something, Sgt. John Urquhart said.
There is no specific recommendation about Tasers and suspects in vehicles in King County’s policy.
This is the second police shooting in the past two weeks. Detectives from SMART still are investigating the May 29 shooting by Snohomish County deputies that killed Daniel Wasilchen of Verlot. The SMART team also has been investigating the Nov. 8, 2008, death of Dustin Willard, who was shot when Everett police came to his home.
Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3437, jholtz@heraldnet.com.
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