Deputy had role in 2 fatal incidents

Published 10:53 pm Wednesday, August 12, 2009

EVERETT — The Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy who fatally shot Shawn Larson last week also was involved in the July 2 shooting that resulted in the death of an Arlington man.

The deputy, 33, was placed on leave after the Arlington shooting and returned to full duty July 23. Two weeks later he again fired his weapon, officials said Wednesday.

Larson, 39, was killed in the Aug. 6 incident along Highway 9. The Snohomish man had a handgun zip-tied and taped to his hand, Snohomish County sheriff’s spokeswoman Rebecca Hover said.

Last week’s incident began when a driver flagged down a sheriff’s deputy to report a pickup truck being driven erratically. The deputy pulled over the driver at the truck scales near Soper Hill Road just outside Lake Stevens.

Police say some kind of dispute developed and Larson, a longshoreman at the Port of Everett, was shot in the head.

At the scene, police recovered a gun that didn’t belong to the deputy. Investigators are unsure why the weapon was affixed to Larson’s hand. Hover on Wednesday said she could not comment on whether investigators have found evidence of mental-health issues involving Larson.

Larson’s family has said they aren’t jumping to any conclusions until the investigation is complete but they are eager to learn what led to the man’s death.

Detectives on Wednesday said they had finished collecting evidence from Larson’s truck.

Once completed the investigation will be reviewed by Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Mark Roe, who will decide if any criminal charges should be filed. Documents related to the investigation will become public record once forwarded to prosecutors.

“The most difficult part for many people is waiting for the investigation to be done. There is a lot of emotion and tons of speculation and often accusations. But, it’s more important to do it right, than to get it done right now. These investigations take time. There are no shortcuts,” Roe said. “I realize that a lack of information can fuel speculation, but who wants to make important decisions based on incomplete information when somebody has died? I certainly don’t.”

The same deputy involved in Larson’s shooting was called to investigate a domestic dispute in Arlington on July 2. Police said he and another deputy were confronted by a man armed with a handgun. Both deputies opened fire.

Dwight Monnie, 64, was flown to a Seattle hospital where he died.

“It’s unusual for a deputy to be involved in two shootings in such close succession,” Hover said, but it has happened within the sheriff’s office before, and elsewhere, including at much bigger departments.

After a police-involved shooting in Snohomish County, a set of protocols are followed. The Snohomish County Multiple Agency Response Team, or SMART, is called to investigate. SMART is a multi-agency task force made up of homicide detectives from around the county.

The team was formed to avoid the perception of bias in investigations of deaths involving police.

“The public trust is important to us and that’s why we’re part of SMART,” Hover said. “That’s why we don’t investigate our own deputy-involved shootings.”

Under sheriff’s office policy, the deputy or deputies involved are immediately placed on leave.

The deputies first are interviewed by the SMART detectives. Then, they undergo a confidential, professionally supervised debriefing in part to help the deputy manage the stress related to the incident, Hover said.

After that, unless some other problems are identified, it is up to sheriff’s office commanders to decide when the deputy returns to work, she said.

The deputy who opened fire last week will go through the same process again. Hover couldn’t say when he may again return to full duty.

The man has been with the sheriff’s office for about two years and has previous law enforcement experience.

Officials did not release the deputy’s name, citing departmental policy.

With limited exceptions — cases involving a missing person or a dangerous, wanted suspect — the sheriff’s office does not release names of people involved in incidents, Hover said. That applies to deputies, too.

The most important piece of an officer-involved shooting is a careful investigation, said Jack McDevitt, an associate dean at the College of Criminal Justice at Northeastern University in Boston. The outcome of the investigation may lead to improved training techniques, he said.

In general, police training teaches officers to eliminate threats, Hover said.

“They’re not trained to shoot somebody in the leg or arm to disable them, they’re trained to end the threat,” Hover said.

Larson’s death was the fourth police-involved fatality in the county in the past three months; the fifth since November. All the cases remain under investigation. Most of the officers or deputies involved in those events have returned to active duty.

Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463, dhefley@heraldnet.com