TACOMA — Tacoma police have identified the two officers involved in a shooting that left one man dead as Shawn Malott and Matthew Verkoelen.
Both have been on paid administrative leave since the Friday evening shooting that killed 42-year-old Robert O’Connell.
The News Tribun
e reports the 33-year-old Malott has been with the Tacoma department 2½ years while the 27-year-old Verkoelen has been a Tacoma police officer 3½ years.
Tacoma police say the two officers were on patrol when they saw a man acting suspiciously at a gas station and stopped to talk to him. Spokesman Mark Fulghum said the man pulled out a gun and fired three shots at the officers, who returned fire.
O’Connell’s father, Ron Besel, told The Seattle Times that O’Connell had bipolar disorder but had not been taking his medication.
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