VANCOUVER, Wash. — Vancouver’s Police Chief is defending his officers and their training after four officer-involved shootings in four weeks.
“I would say—you know—be patient and wait for the facts to come out,” chief James McElvain said.
The most recent shooting happened Thursday afternoon.
Vancouver police said they were working a drug investigation and pulled over a man as part of that work.
His family said the man's name is Carlos Hunter.
Related: Sister says man fatally shot by Vancouver police during traffic stop was picking up his son
Police said he's a known gang member, his family said he turned his life around after getting out of prison. Either way, police said he had a gun, would not cooperate. Then something happened and two officers opened fire killing hunter.
“We're putting human beings-- police officers--into and expect-- into critical incidents like this and expect them to make a split second decision that is not only impacting their own personal life, but the other person that's involved in it and making decisions on behalf of the community safety,” chief McElvain said.
Last week, two other Vancouver officers shot and killed a homeless man. Police said he was waving around what looked like two guns and pointing them at people. Investigators released side by side comparisons on Friday showing the man's fake guns next to real ones.
Related: Man shot and killed by Vancouver officers had 2 replica handguns, police say
Two weeks ago another fatal shooting, this time involving a 16-year-old with a knife.
And three weeks ago, a wild chase from Vancouver into Portland as police tried to arrest a murder suspect. The Oregonian reports a Vancouver officer fired more than 40 bullets at the fleeing truck through the windshield of his police car.
Police said someone in the truck was shooting back at them. Incredibly no one was hurt by the gunfire. The chase ended when another Vancouver officer rammed the truck on Interstate 84.
KGW asked the chief if it’s all just random? Or is there a problem with the officer's training?
“So those are great questions. One that I’ve, I’ve asked myself more recently,” he said.
It’s not the officers and it’s not the training.
“We spend a lot of resources towards training,” Chief McElvain said. “We have built-in training days to our work schedule so we’re ensuring our folks are constantly being trained and we send our trainers off to be trained to ensure they’re receiving information related to best practices for law enforcement.”
All four recent police shootings remain under investigation.