CLARK COUNTY, Wash. — The Vancouver Police Department released body camera and drove video on Wednesday showing what happened during a deadly police shooting nearly two weeks ago. A Vancouver police officer shot and killed a man at a home in Clark County after a multi-hour long standoff.
The shooting happened on Sept. 27 at a home on Northeast 71st Street in Clark County. According to investigators, the man — allegedly intoxicated and armed — threatened a neighbor, shot into the air multiple times, and fired a rifle numerous times at deputies and armored vehicles. A SWAT team was called out and the neighborhood was ordered to shelter in place.
Video footage from the incident shows the suspect, later identified as 56-year-old Michael Williams, with multiple firearms inside his home including a high-powered rifle. Police body-worn camera video shows rounds striking the armored vehicle outside the home, shaking up the six officers inside it.
In the video, a crisis negotiator is heard over a loudspeaker giving instructions to Williams before he shot at them, shattering the police vehicle's windshield.
"You are under arrest. You need to come to the front door with nothing in your hands ... Show us that you don't want to hurt anybody out here. Show us that you can be safe," the crisis negotiator said.
Despite hours-long efforts to de-escalate the situation, investigators said SWAT saw the suspect just after 2:30 a.m. at the sliding door with a rifle and what appeared to be a ballistic helmet and a gas mask.
One of the SWAT officers, a member of the Vancouver Police Department, shot Williams in the neck at 2:36 a.m. Williams was later pronounced dead at the scene. The officer, whose name has not been released, was placed on leave.
Officers used the drone to clear the home and found boxes of ammo, rifles and handguns in a bedroom upstairs. Among the firearms was a scoped rifle on a shooting tripod pointed out a window.
The Lower Columbia Major Crimes Team, led by the Cowlitz County Sheriff's Office, is leading the independent investigation into the deadly police shooting.