No criminal charges will be filed against Snohomish County sheriff’s deputies involved in a standoff and shooting death of a Stanwood man March 17.
Donald M. Larson, 69, was shot and killed after he pointed a shotgun at a deputy, chief deputy prosecutor Mark Roe said Thursday.
“I believe the facts are clear and establish that the deputies had no viable option but to shoot when they did,” Roe said in a letter to Everett police detective Joe Neussendorfer.
Neussendorfer and the Everett Police Department took the lead in an investigation of the sheriff’s office as part of the Snohomish County Multiple Agency Response Team.
Roe said he has talked with Larson’s son.
“When deputies attempted to arrest Mr. Larson, he refused to exit his house, despite the fact that they had a valid warrant for his arrest,” Roe said.
At one point, Larson pointed a double-barreled shotgun at a deputy, he added.
Multiple shots were fired, and Larson retreated into his home. Officers didn’t go inside for several hours and found him dead of gunshot wounds, police said.
A judge signed a $100,000 arrest warrant for Larson after the Stanwood man failed to show up for a court date March 4 on a voyeurism charge.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
