The investigation into a deputy-involved shooting that left one man dead earlier this month is taking longer than initially expected, authorities report.
Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer said detectives with the Grays Harbor Sheriff’s Office — the agency heading the investigation — reported they still needed to conduct an interview with an individual relevant to the investigation.
All findings will be sent to Meyer, who will then determine whether two Lewis County deputies — Deputy Robert Nelson and Reserve Deputy Mark Anders — reacted appropriately when they shot and killed 40-year-old Robert D. Richardson of Graham on March 3.
Meyer said authorities hope the last interview will be wrapped up this week. He anticipates the investigation will be complete — and a decision will be made — before April.
The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office said in a press release distributed last week that it was anticipated the findings would be sent to Meyer this week.
Some preliminary information has already been sent to the prosecutor’s office.
Meyer said when he makes a decision whether a an officer-involved shooting was justified, he will first contact the investigating agency — in this case a Critical Incident Investigation Team (CIIT) consisting of neighboring sheriff’s offices and Washington State Patrol — and then he will meet with local authorities to go over his findings. The officers involved in the shooting will have the chance to sit in while his findings are presented.
After that, Meyer said, his report and the investigatory findings — with the exception of some redacted material — will be available for public disclosure requests.
In the two weeks following the shooting, Lewis County Sheriff’s Office personnel said they’re not privy to the CIIT’s investigatory findings. Chief Bruce Kimsey said in a previous interview that a Lewis County detective serves as a liaison between CIIT and LCSO, but no Lewis County personnel are actually involved with the investigation.
A records request sent to the E911 Communications Center requesting dispatch’s audio of the incident was momentarily declined.
An email from Lewis County Public Disclosure Manager Casey Mauermann reads in part: “The County's E911 Communications Center has located records which are responsive to your request. However, at this time, we have determined that the records are exempt from disclosure for the following reasons:
“RCW 42.56.240(1) Specific intelligence information and specific investigative records compiled by investigative, law enforcement, and penology agencies, and state agencies vested with the responsibility to discipline members of any profession, the nondisclosure of which is essential to effective law enforcement or for the protection of any person's right to privacy.”
When the investigation concludes, the audio will likely be available for release, the email reads.
According to a LCSO press release distributed shortly after the shooting, Nelson and Anders were on patrol together in the early morning hours of March 3.
They came upon a vehicle parked on a dead end road — Rainey Creek Road in Glenoma. Richardson was the sole occupant of the vehicle, and deputies learned he had an active Pierce County warrant for two counts of first-degree rape of a child and two counts of first-degree child molestation.
The press release indicates that when they asked him to step out of his vehicle, he pointed a weapon at deputies, prompting both deputies to fire their weapons, killing him. The Lewis County Coroner’s Office confirmed that Richardson died of multiple gunshot wounds.
Authorities have not said what type of weapon they believe Richardson held.
Nelson and Anders have been on administrative leave since the shooting.
The LCSO will conduct an internal investigation following the CIIT’s, in accordance with office policy.
