LAKE STEVENS — A police officer had no choice when he fatally shot a troubled man who appeared ready to fire a handgun during a domestic violence call last year, Snohomish County’s prosecutor said Tuesday.
John LaBossiere died Nov. 1, 2009, after being struck by one of three bullets fired by Lake Stevens police Officer Jerad Wachtveitl.
“The officer who fired had no real choice but to shoot when he did. I believe his use of deadly force was justified,” Prosecuting Attorney Mark Roe said in a letter to the team of detectives who investigated the death.
LaBossiere, 26, had just months before returned from his third tour of duty in Iraq. He’d gone there twice as a U.S. Marine and more recently as a member of the Army National Guard.
Officers that night knew little about the Everett-area man except that he reportedly had a firearm, Roe wrote. He’d kicked in the door and was making threats at the Lake Stevens home where his estranged wife was staying with their three children.
Police arrived to hear screams coming from the house and neighbors shouting that someone was going to be killed.
The officers were yelling “Police!” as they went inside. LaBossiere came toward them with a loaded .40-caliber semiautomatic handgun, Roe wrote. LaBossiere reportedly was raising the weapon in the direction of officers when he was shot.
The death was investigated by the Snohomish County Multiple Agency Response Team. The task force of homicide detectives from departments around the county presents Roe with evidence in cases involving police and deadly force.
Investigators learned that LaBossiere had been troubled for years, had a drinking problem, and had entered the military in 2002, then again in 2008, in hopes of creating a better life, records show.
He came home to find bills and other problems waiting.
Roe and detectives earlier this month met with LaBossiere’s parents, wife and her attorney. The slain man’s family explained that LaBossiere had declined the military’s offer of voluntary counseling to help him return to civilian life and also described “how his anger, frustration and struggles seem to consume him,” Roe wrote.
“To some extent, it seems that John LaBossiere may be yet another casualty of war,” the prosecutor wrote. “The officer, however, could not take the chance that he, his fellow officer, or any of the numerous witnesses or bystanders might become casualties as well. When faced with a man bringing a gun to bear, a police officer has a duty to perform. The officer performed his.”
Police reports, interview transcripts and other documents from the investigation are available for review under state public records laws. That’s how The Herald in October obtained roughly 1,000 pages of documents about the case.
LaBossiere’s family was not aware that the records were public nor how to obtain copies until after being approached by a reporter.
Going forward, prosecutors have decided to make sure that no longer happens, Roe said. The protocols in these cases now require the lead investigator to contact next of kin of the person who died to let them know that records are available and how they can be obtained, he said.
“We think the (SMART team approach) is pretty good, but it doesn’t mean we can’t make it better,” Roe said.
Scott North: 425-339-3431; north@heraldnet.com.
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