CLARK COUNTY, Wash. — The Clark County Sheriff's deputy who mistakenly shot and killed an off-duty Vancouver police officer Saturday night was involved in another high-profile deadly police shooting less than 18 months earlier.
The deputy was identified Tuesday as Jonathan Feller. He served as a law enforcement officer in South Dakota about 14 years before he was hired by the Clark County Sheriff's Office in 2018.
According to a news release, Feller was one of three deputies who opened fire on Kevin Peterson Jr. in Hazel Dell during a failed drug sting in October 2020. The shooting led to protests and vigils in the weeks that followed.
In August 2021, prosecutors ruled the shooting was justified and that none of the three deputies would face charges.
Then on Saturday, Jan. 30, Dep. Feller was pursuing a 20-year-old suspect who robbed a Chevron convenience store in the Orchards area before fleeing in a stolen vehicle. The suspect eventually ditched the vehicle in the Battle Ground area and ran away on foot.
According to investigators, the suspect, later identified as Julio Cesar Segura, pounded on the door of off-duty Vancouver officer Donald Sahota's home and a struggle ensued. Sahota was armed with a gun but lost control of it, and Segura stabbed him multiple times.
The off-duty officer recovered the gun and chased the suspect, who was trying to enter his home with the object used in the stabbing. Shortly after more officers arrived on scene, Dep. Feller fired several rounds from a rifle and killed Sahota. Segura surrendered and was taken into custody.
"I felt bad," Eva Segura, mother of Julio, said about the shooting. "I wasn't okay."
Segura told KGW her son helped her with rent, paying the cell phone bill and running errands, but she said he had been struggling with mental health.
"He wasn't okay," Segura said. "Maybe that's why he acted like this this time. For the officer who died I'm very sorry to his family."
A forensic examination by the Clark County Medical's Office found Sahota died of gun shot wounds to the torso.
The Lower Columbia Major Crimes Team is handling the investigation into the shooting.
Feller was placed on critical incident leave, which is standard protocol following a use of force incident that results in serious injury or death.