Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer found the officer-involved shooting that resulted in the death of an 18-year-old Centralia man last month was justified.
Joshua Flores was pronounced dead from a single gunshot wound to the chest on June 18 after officers responded to a reported burglary in the 1400 block of Logan Street. The officer who fired the shot, Fredrick Mercer, was placed on paid administrative leave as the investigation into the shooting was conducted by a multi-jurisdictional critical incident investigation team.
While citing Washington state law on officer-involved shootings, Meyer wrote: “The question becomes did Officer Mercer ‘…have probable cause to believe that the suspect, if not apprehended, poses a threat of serious physical harm to the officer…’ If the suspect ‘threatens a peace officer with a weapon or displays a weapon in a manner that could reasonably be construed as threatening…’ Here, the deceased was in possession of a knife, and was approaching the Officer in an aggressive manner.”
Meyer concluded that Mercer’s actions were justified and “unavoidable based upon the actions of the deceased,” noting Flores approached both Mercer and bystanders while he held the knife, ignoring orders from officers along the way.
Police responded to the area at around 4:55 a.m. June 18 on report of a man with a weapon — dispatch audio of the incident indicates a witness said the man wielded an axe, while police found Flores with a knife — trying to kick in a door. He then gained entry into the house through a window, and was later seen exiting the house.
Flores, according to statements from Mercer, approached Mercer with a marching-like gait. Mercer said he repeatedly told Flores to get on the ground, and noted that he was standing between Flores and a crowd of onlookers. Two other officers were on scene.
“I knew I had the cleanest shot if anything were to happen,” he said, according to documents.
Officer Ruben Ramirez, who was in position behind Flores, said: “He has a knife,” and Mercer began commanding Flores to drop the knife and get on the ground.
“I’m telling him to drop the knife, get on the ground, drop the knife, drop the knife, drop the knife … I’m trying to edge to the left, so I can get a shot if I need to, but I can’t give him passage to my right because people are there … I’m worried if he gets through, I have no shot. … He’s closing the gap extremely fast. He puffs out his chest right about 15 feet now. He puffs out his chest and he screams at me. ‘Just do it. Just do it. Just do it. Just do it’ over and over, as I’m screaming at him, ‘Drop the knife. Drop the knife. Drop the knife.’ I can see the whites of his knuckles and he’s tensing up and getting ready for an attack,” said Mercer.
Mercer noted Flores was sweating profusely and was glassy-eyed.
“I’m thinking, I have my gun out. I don’t have time to change to a Taser. I don’t know that I would trust a Taser to work. If the Taser does not work … I’m the only person between myself and him and (Ramirez and Officer Aaron Miller) do not have — they don’t have a shot,” he said.
Meyer noted in his decision that Mercer believed he or bystanders were likely to be attacked by Flores.
The single shot was fired at 5:05 a.m. Ramirez and Mercer began to administer aid immediately and medics were dispatched within the minute.
“The deceased suffered from mental problems and he had not been taking his medications. The deceased suffered hallucinations and from schizophrenia. The deceased could become violent if off his medications. This is confirmed by prior contacts,” read documents.
If Flores survived the encounter, Meyer said he would have been charged with multiple counts of second-degree assault, a felony count of harassment, malicious mischief first-degree burglary and attempted burglary.
