By Gene Johnson, AP
A sheriff’s deputy who responded to a call about a robbery suspect at a Washington state home mistakenly shot and killed the homeowner — an off-duty police officer who was trying to detain the man.
Authorities in Clark County say the suspect fled in a stolen Mercedes after robbing a gas station in Vancouver, near Portland, Oregon, at gunpoint Saturday night. He eluded police on a busy highway and ran off after they stopped his vehicle with spike strips.
The man wound up about 10 miles (16 kilometers) away at the Battle Ground home of 52-year-old Vancouver police officer Donald Sahota, where he pounded on the door, said he’d been in a car crash and asked for help. Nothing in an account released by investigators late Sunday suggested the officer and suspect knew each other.
Because the man matched the description of the suspect, Sahota went outside to detain him while his wife called 911, according to the account from the Lower Columbia Major Crimes Team, the regional investigative team reviewing the shooting.
The suspect began fighting with Sahota, stabbed him repeatedly with an unknown object, and then broke free and ran toward Sahota’s house.
Sahota had lost hold of his gun during the struggle but regained it and chased after the suspect just as a deputy arrived and shot the off-duty officer with a rifle.
Sahota collapsed on his front porch before responding officers figured out he wasn’t the suspect. The suspect surrendered to police moments later.
Sahota’s wife had reported to dispatchers that her husband was an armed, off-duty officer who was outside confronting the suspect, investigators said.
“My heart goes out to Officer Sahota’s family and friends and those of us in his VPD family as well,” Vancouver Police Chief James McElvain said in a statement. “His death is a tragic loss, and he will be deeply missed by many.”
The suspect, identified as Julio Cesar Segura, 20, appeared Monday in Clark County Superior Court after being arrested for investigation of attempted first-degree murder, robbery and other charges. Judge John Fairgrieve set bail at $5 million, saying it was “hard to think of a more dangerous series of acts,” The Columbian newspaper reported.
Sahota joined the department in April 2014 after stints with the Gresham and Port of Portland police departments in Oregon.
In Vancouver, his assignments included patrol, being an armorer and most recently the training unit. He also leaves behind two children, Vancouver police said.
This version of the story contains much more detail than the initial one I read this morning. This one states that the off-duty officer’s wife had already informed dispatchers that he was outside, armed, and a police officer not currently in uniform.
I would like to know if/how this very important bit of information made its way to the responding Deputy. In any case, the fact that 911/dispatch had already been notified suggests that the responsibility for the officer’s death will be properly shifted toward 911, Sheriff Dept dispatch, or possibly even the Deputy.
My condolences to both the officer’s wife and the Deputy, who will no doubt bear the weight of his decision to pull his trigger for the rest of his life.
There’s a good chance ultimate responsibility can be placed on the guy in the mask in the photo at the top of the page…
That’s what I az a thinkin. multiple felonies elading up to banging on that ooor, someone died before it was all over, and thus his felonious conduct leading up to the death make it a felony murder charageable to the perp.
Just wait until they find out what he was doing with Paul Simon down by the school yard.
“…find out what he was doing with Paul Simon down by the school yard.”
Trying out some Kodachrome, with the nice, bright colors?
Don’t take his Kodachrome away… 😉
Interestingly, Eastman Kodak is still an actual company. More surprisingly yet, it’s stock still garners nearly $4 per share.
“Interestingly, Eastman Kodak is still an actual company”
I’m not surprised, pocket camera film wasn’t their only forte. They still had (have?) sales of photographic film for those who prefer the ‘analog’ look, and government contracts, like when the ‘Keyhole’ spy sats were flying. In the 60s and 70s when the CIA wanted a picture, the satellites would eject the exposed film in a special capsule that would re-enter the atmosphere to be picked up in midair by a C-130.
So, it doesn’t surprise me in the least they are still around…
Oh yes, it is ALWAYS the criminal who is at fault whenever a LEO shoots an armed homeowner. Let’s not forget to also blame the criminal for global warming and runaway inflation while we’re at it.
Sorry, Officer Geoff, but I Haz is 100% right. The responsibility here lies with either the dispatcher or the deputy.
Eventually home owners will learn that calling 911 is just an expedited route to Police Assisted Suicide.
You’re correct that the advice now days is to never call 911 unless you want somebody shot but unfortunately in this case the wife did want somebody shot but as usual the cops F up again.
The only surprise part of the story is that there wasn’t a dog shot also.
Since a death occurred during the commission of a crime, can the suspect (Julio Cesar Segura, age 20) be charged with the murder of Vancouver police officer Donald Sahota?
Probably – In the state of Washington, the common law felony murder rule is codified at Revised Code of Washington §§ 9A.32.030(b) and 9A.32.050(b).
Faint consolation for the deputy that fired the shot, but better than nothing… 🙁
The deputy saw a bleeding man (he had been stabbed) with a gun and shot him. It is not clear that the man with the gun posed an immediate threat. The report does not indicate whether the deputy identified himself and ordered the man to drop his weapon.
Cops will basically shoot anyone holding what they think might be a firearm it seems, even their own if they’re not in uniform. If he had his body cam off, he can make up any excuse, that he shouted “police, stop” and the guy turned around holding a gun, so they can say it was justified.
“Cops will basically shoot anyone holding what they think might be a firearm it seems”
often this is the case. they’ll even tell you that.
Of course the will tell you that — because that is exactly what they are trained to do (which is also why departments consistently say such shootings are justified and that the officer did not violate any department policy.
Officers typically get one short block of instruction on “deescalation” sometime amongst all the dozens of classes teaching them to shoot first and think later and another dozen classes on what to put in the report to justify what they did.
LEOs are just like everyone else, they want to go home at the end of their shift and the surest way to accomplish that is to automatically shoot immediately at the sight or sound of a gun or anything that might be a gun. This is the strategy supported by both the department and the union. The only time the department will throw the officer under the bus is when the shooting goes viral online due to the races of the people involved.
“The report does not indicate whether the deputy identified himself and ordered the man to drop his weapon.”
That isn’t a requirement. At least it isn’t for the Capitol Police, so why would it be for any other police officer? You don’t even have to be armed to get shot. Then when they shoot someone, they don’t have to render aid. They just run away. Like a hit and run with a gun (and a badge).
It’s not a requirement. After all, for deadly force to be constitutional, it must be in response to an imminent risk of death or great bodily harm. If someone presents an IMMINENT threat, there very well be no time to verbally challenge them- even though it may something that should be done, ‘if possible.’
Prior to the case that changed deadly force (TN v. Garner) police were specifically supposed to shout such demands because the standard for shooting was lower- you could shoot a fleeing felon even if they posed no immediate threat. In that context it makes more sense as taking the time to warn someone that you are about to shoot would not endanger your life.
Not the first time cops shot and killed someone else trying to stop a criminal only because they were armed. Like the guy in Colorado who stopped the shooter that ambushed and killed the police officer only to be gunned down by other cops responding to the scene afterwards. The results of idiotic training to shoot at the first sight of a firearm in someone’s hand, or even the whole “reaching” thing.
That’s the training now because it is more “equitable” across male/female/tranny. Even the weakest idiot can implement that policy.
Diversity, Inclusion, Equity…. DIE
The last man to the scene seems to be the most dangerous person there…
(I am less desirous of calling the police to assist in a dangerous situation as time goes on)
I’m becoming a firmer believer in the shoot, shovel and shut up strategy. The deceased officer should have simply shot the perp rather than attempt to detain him.
That would be a deeply foolish thing to do, especially in today’s climate against police shooting people.
You know what would have been better? Not opening the door to what turned out to be a deadly situation.
Off-duty means off-duty.
Missouri_Mule,
Responding police really have absolutely no way of knowing if someone on scene is a bystander, gawker, homeowner (defender), or attacker. That is a simple fact. And it could easily take them several minutes to determine the identities (in terms of bystander, defender, attacker, witness, etc.) of the people on scene.
In light of the above facts, my personal plan is to take care of business and secure my property myself before calling police. If the situation is really ugly and I cannot secure my property myself, I will call trusted neighbors for assistance. If they are not available, then I will hole-up in my home and wait for police to arrive–meanwhile describing myself in detail to the dispatcher very early in the call and ask repeatedly that the dispatcher verify whether he/she has conveyed my description to the police.
And, for the love of all that is good and wonderful, do NOT have a firearm in hand (especially while moving in wild or rapid fashion) when police roll up. (Drop your firearm or holster it and keep your hands plainly visible at shoulder level.)
“my personal plan is to take care of business and secure my property myself before calling police. If the situation is really ugly and I cannot secure my property myself, I will call trusted neighbors for assistance.”
for the life of me I cannot understand why people keep posting this kind of thing on the net. it’ll be located and used against you in court to establish “intent” if the time ever comes.
That potentially could happen if the user name / tag of “uncommon_sense” can be traced back to him…
Geoff PR,
I am 97% confident that a motivated entity can trace any post on this forum back to the actual human being who posted it.
rant7,
I agree that an incredibly zealous prosecutor could scour the Internet for postings and use them against an accused person.
I also know that such a task would require a LOT of resources which a prosecutor would only deploy in political persecution case.
Finally, prosecutors can paint anything (or even nothing) as nefarious/evil intent. The counter to that is an excellent attorney who can show a jury how your statements and actions were prudent rather than nefarious or evil. Of course any over-the-top statements (saying something like, “I hate [demographic] and want to kill one!”) is incredibly unwise.
I also know that such a task would require a LOT of resources which a prosecutor would only deploy in political persecution case.”
dude. they won’t be starting at the beginning, the search engines are running already. “hey, you got anything on this particular guy?” “searching … yep, here’s the link, all entries pre-parsed and categorized. have a nice day.”
It’s easy being an armchair quarterback but the wife should have been there to smoke the perp upon threat of her husband being stabbed. Husband should have maintained distance and never allowed the perp to stab him. Responding deputy…who knows? The entire event is a tragedy.
Yet another case where calling the police turns out detrimental to one’s health.
Yes once again poor communication between dispatch and officers resulting in another wrongful death. I hope they are going to investigate officer who shot him. Amazing that they are still doodling around with Alec Baldwin, and they will wrap this one up in short order. Our society has become a real joke.
Many studies have shown that people who try to fight with an armed man often end up being the victims. In this case the man was not in uniform and appeared to the cops as a civilian.
As others mentioned the dispatchers are not often well trained as well and often do not give the cops adequate information as to what the victim was wearing or what he even looks like.
The tragic case in Cleveland where two cops jumped out of their cruiser and gunned down a 12 year old boy in less than 2 seconds was another case of the dispatcher not giving the cops the info that the suspect was just a kid with a toy gun (which was never shown to the cops when they arrived).
U.S. Cops are some of the worst trained police in the entire world. What makes me angry is that the Far Right Hill Jacks often denigrate the French Police who on more than a few occasions attacked well trained foreign terrorists and rescued all the hostages while in Capitalvania the cops on several occasions when dealing with deranged civilians or criminals , not true terrorists, ended up killing the hostages along with the criminals.
I watched the News Reports about a week or so ago when a trigger happy cop panicked when entering a store and opened fire with an AR15 on an unarmed suspect and missed him at only a few feet and killed a young girl hiding in the dressing room with her mother. Another case of untrained cops that were more of a danger to the people than to the criminals or mentally ill people they were supposed to arrest.
Many cities are so fed up with untrained cops that they are now forbidding them to handle mentally ill people in crisis and instead are sending in trained professional mental health experts who are not armed and not trained to shoot first and ask questions later like the Moron cops always seem to do at every opportunity.
and said unarmed and not well trained “social workers” get dead on a frequent basis.
You and your “studies”
“Many studies have shown that people who try to fight with an armed man often end up being the victims.”
That crap again?
The guy shot was a trained police officer, and they get hand-to-hand combat training by the agency that trained him…
“The guy shot was a trained police officer, and they get hand-to-hand combat training by the agency that trained him…”
Guy is 52, probably has been 20 years since he went through the academy. And it’s embarrassing how little in-service training police receive on hand-to-hand combat.
In most places, if a cop is good at fighting, it’s because they go out of their way to train on their own time. Even more so than shooting which at least requires occasional qualifications.
ALL studies prove that lil D is a mouth breathing moron.
Cops.
Are.
Civilians.
I agree that American cops aren’t adequately trained. Read what retired Ohio cop Greg Ellifritz (activeresponsetraining.net) has to say on the subject. However, I should point out that the people who complain about the consequences of inadequate training refuse to pay more taxes to fund better training.
The cop who shot the girl in the store dressing room did hit his target. The bullet struck her after it overpenetrated the target. Whether deadly force was required is a different issue. For a lone officer (or private citizen), I think the guy was too dangerous to handle hand to hand. On the other hand, several cops, working together as a team, should have been able to jump on him and get him into handcuffs rather than shoot.
The mentally ill may or may not be dangerous. Social workers aren’t always a substitute for police. A 911 operator is in no position to decide whether a situation can be handled by a social worker or if it requires a police officer with hand-to-hand skills and a gun. Protection of the public comes before the welfare of a mentally ill person who poses a danger.
Man that’s gotta suck for his old lady and kids.
Oh geez my fakebook friend lives in Vancouver. Across the river is Portland,Orecrap. What a hellhole. I’ll quiz him about this(if he pays attention).RIP
They went over a scenario like this in my carry permit class.
Yet the idiot unnamed deputy didn’t bother to shoot Julio multiple times? WTH!
Dumba$$ cop couldnt hold in his jimmy and accidentally smoked his own homie. Pathetic.
Will the City of Vancouver be forthcoming with a 28 million dollar check? Or is the deceased skin the wrong color?
This incident is an example of the danger of jumping to conclusions on the basis of incomplete information. The deputy will probably get away with it. A private citizen would not. The lesson for the rest of us is not to involve ourselves in other people’s fights unless we are absolutely sure who is who. Even then, it’s very helpful to have surveillance video that shows why we acted.
Don’t forget – the police are “highly trained professionals.”
Maybe he’ll turn the gun on himself next.
Here’s hoping.
Nightmare.
In plainclothes training- so even with kevlar vest, identifying shirt (with removable cover garment) and likely familiarity with responding officers (i.e. the guy in a uniform probably recognizes us) we were still under general orders NOT to engage in such a scenario unless there was an imminent threat to life. Just too much room for irreversible error. Conversely, during simunitions training we had a scenario where we would come across this exact scenario from a uniformed perspective. I don’t know if anyone fired, but I can see how someone would.
“Because the man matched the description of the suspect, Sahota went outside to detain him while his wife called 911…”
This was avoidable. Maybe the responding officers screwed up. Maybe dispatch didn’t relay the information quickly enough (but there’s ALWAYS a delay!). Maybe a lot of things, but if he didn’t decide to place himself in that situation, armed and out of uniform, he’d be alive.
That’s not to say he is ‘at fault’ but it doesn’t matter. Can only control your own actions. Don’t go out and cowboy it, cop or not.
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