VANCOUVER, Wash. — The 16-year-old boy who on Tuesday was shot and killed by a Vancouver police officer was convicted of an assault involving a knife last year, according to a report in The Columbian.
Clayton Joseph brandished a knife at officers and refused commands to drop his weapon, according to Vancouver police. Cpl. Roger Evans shot the teen late Tuesday night and he died at a hospital.
Witnesses said Joseph was one of two males involved in an altercation in a parking lot outside a Vancouver apartment complex on Southeast Ellsworth Road.
Tuesday's fatal shooting occurred near the same apartment complex where Joseph allegedly assaulted another boy nearly four months earlier.
The Columbian reports that Joseph walked into a public area near the apartment complex and swung a large steak knife at a male on Oct. 12, 2018. The male was able to step out of the way and deflect the swing, but he told police he would have been stabbed had he not moved out of the way.
The newspaper reports that two people called 911 and Joseph walked to Ellsworth Elementary School where he tried to steal a 14-year-old boy’s skateboard by punching him in the face and threatening to stab him.
Joseph pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree assault and had one count reduced from second- to fourth-degree assault after participating in a community support program, according to The Columbian. He was scheduled to be sentenced March 6.