EVERETT — An investigation into the 2009 police shooting couldn’t answer why a Snohomish man had a gun taped to his hand but the lengthy probe has led prosecutors to conclude that the sheriff’s deputy who fatally shot the man didn’t commit a crime.
No one may ever know why Shawn Larson, a hardworking father, had a gun attached to his hand on Aug. 6, 2009, Snohomish County Prosecuting Attorney Mark Roe wrote in a letter sent to the detectives who led the investigation.
The gun was loaded, but not ready to fire.
“Shawn Larson’s death is tragic,” Roe wrote. “He was not a criminal, and now with the benefit of being able to examine his gun, it appears he wasn’t trying to shoot anybody. I will not speculate why Mr. Larson had the gun, attached it to his hand, or brought it up towards the deputy.
“Officers have split seconds to act or not act, and the situation as it presented itself to this deputy was one where immediate mortal danger seemed feet away,” he added.
Roe concluded that deputy Joshua Hostetter was legally justified in shooting Larson.
“With what this deputy saw and heard, I believe his actions were justified and there appeared to be no alternative,” Roe wrote.
Hostetter encountered Larson, 39, at the truck scales on Highway 9 outside of Lake Stevens. Larson had veered off the road and another motorist alerted the deputy that the pickup truck had been all over the road moments before.
The deputy approached the parked truck. He and Larson had a short exchange. The deputy ordered Larson to show his hands. That’s when Larson lifted his right hand and showed the deputy he was holding a .45-caliber Glock handgun. The deputy yelled for Larson to drop the weapon but Larson appeared to raise the gun and began pointing it in the deputy’s direction.
The deputy fired. A short time later he would learn that the gun was zip-tied and taped to Larson’s hand.
The investigation determined that there were rounds in the gun’s magazine but there wasn’t a round in the chamber. The gun wasn’t ready to fire, investigators concluded.
“Not having a round in the chamber likely indicates he was not intending to harm anyone. But the deputy had absolutely no way of knowing that,” Roe wrote in the letter dated Tuesday.
He also acknowledged that though the investigation was thorough, the delay in getting it done was difficult for Larson’s family. Roe met with Larson’s relatives and friends last week, trying to answer their questions.
Larson’s family last month released a statement about his death. They remember him as a shoulder to lean on, someone who was always there for his family.
Cris Larson on Tuesday said that he still questions the sheriff’s office policies that allowed the deputy to be on duty the night his cousin was killed. Hostetter had been involved in another fatal shooting just a month earlier. He’d been back on the road for about two weeks when he shot Shawn Larson.
Under sheriff’s office policy, deputies involved in shootings are immediately placed on leave. The deputy first is interviewed by detectives. Then, he undergoes a confidential, professionally supervised debriefing in part to help the deputy manage the stress related to the incident.
After that, it is up to sheriff’s office commanders to decide if the deputy returns to work.
Cris Larson said he isn’t downplaying the danger the deputy faced but he can’t help but wonder if the outcome would have been different if his cousin had encountered a different deputy, one who hadn’t gone through a shooting a month earlier.
“It doesn’t seem like it’s in the best interest of anyone — the officer, his family or the public,” Cris Larson said.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com.
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