Victim’s family to probe Everett police shooting

Published 10:56 pm Tuesday, November 18, 2008

EVERETT — The family of a man fatally shot by Everett police on Nov. 8 has hired a team of private attorneys to conduct an independent investigation.

They said they hope the team will help determine the truth about what happened when police responded to a burglary call and opened fire on Dustin Willard, 31.

“The point is really just to provide an independent and additional resource to find out what happened,” attorney Angelo Calfo said. Calfo and business partner, Patty Eakes, both of Yarmuth, Wilsdon, Calfo, a Seattle law firm, were retained by Willard’s family.

Police say Willard came to his front door armed with a shotgun. Officers opened fire when Willard leveled the gun at them and refused to put it down, according to a search warrant filed in Cascade District Court.

The shooting is being investigated by a special multi-agency group of homicide detectives, the Snohomish County Multi-Agency Response Team or SMART.

Detectives still are working the case and have no other comment, Snohomish County sheriff’s spokeswoman Rebecca Hover said Tuesday.

In a statement issued late Monday, Willard’s parents and brother said they’ve hired the attorneys, both former prosecutors, to “monitor and assist with the SMART investigation and conduct such additional private investigation as may be necessary to ensure that the truth is revealed.”

They also said they were frustrated by the lack of information released by police.

“They’ve read the papers and see that there’s inconsistencies,” Calfo said. “Anybody who’s lost a son or brother would want to know exactly what happened.”

KOMO-TV of Seattle, and others, have reported that Willard may have been shot behind his home, based on a statement from a neighbor.

That story doesn’t match what police have found, Hover said.

Neighbors told police they were awakened by banging noises at Willard’s house, according to the search warrant. One neighbor saw a man kicking the front door five to 10 times and heard the sound of breaking glass. The neighbor said he then heard more banging noises coming from behind the home.

Police converged on the scene. One neighbor said he heard “one of the officers shout ‘Show me your hands’ or something similar to that” before eight to 12 gunshots rang out, according to the search warrant.

An officer saw the man with the shotgun and heard other officers order Willard to drop the weapon, the search warrant said.

That was followed by multiple gunshots apparently fired by more than one officer.

A shotgun was recovered near Willard’s body. When officers went inside the home, they found the back door was locked and appeared to have some blood on the interior near the door knob, the search warrant said. A pair of vise-grip pliers as well as wet shoe prints were on the floor.

Investigators have not yet determined whose blood was on the door or how it got there.

Calfo, a former federal prosecutor, said he and Eakes, a former King County prosecutor who helped try Green River killer Gary Ridgway, will work to help Willard’s family navigate the complex legal proceedings of an officer-involved shooting.

He said his firm frequently works with individuals and businesses to guide them through government investigations.

The lawyers have yet to meet with the SMART team or Snohomish County prosecutors, Calfo said.

It’s too early to say what steps may be taken as part of the independent investigation, he said.

“Anything we do is going to be aimed at one thing, and that is to find out the truth about what happened,” Calfo said.

Reporter Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3437 or jholtz@heraldnet.com.