Pasco officer kills car theft suspect
Published 1:18 pm Wednesday, September 24, 2014
PASCO — Pasco police say an officer fatally wounded a car theft suspect who pulled out what appeared to be a gun.
Capt. Jim Raymond says police stopped the stolen car about 3 a.m. Wednesday in downtown Pasco. A passenger remained in the car, but the driver ran.
Raymond says an officer confronted him in a parking lot and shot him when he appeared to pull a gun.
He was taken to Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland where he died. He’s identified by the Franklin County coroner’s office as 25-year-old Matthew L. Stoddard of Airway Heights.
The Tri-City Herald reported Stoddard is the fourth man to be killed by a police officer or deputy in the Tri-Cities in the last three months. Three of those shootings were in Pasco.
