Jamie Gardner was on her fourth round of bingo at an American Legion post in Vancouver when a commotion erupted behind her around 11:30 a.m. Saturday.
She turned to see a man coming out of a restroom, a police dog loping in his direction, and Clark County Sheriff’s deputies shouting.
“Then the shots rang out, and I put two and two together and just dropped to the floor,” said Gardner, 61. She hid under the table, tipping chairs over to form a barricade.
What happened in those chaotic moments remain unclear Sunday. The Clark County Sheriff’s Office, in a series of press releases Saturday, said that deputies had followed a man they suspected in a carjacking and an attempted carjacking into the American Legion post in the Salmon Creek area before noon.
The Sheriff’s Office said an “officer-involved shooting took place,” and the carjacking suspect died. The office refused to confirm on Saturday whether the deputies had shot the suspect. They have not responded to requests for comment on Sunday. A spokesperson for the Vancouver Police Department, which is leading the investigation into the shooting, said the investigation is ongoing and the department expects to release more information this week.
Gardner estimates about 30 people had gathered at Saturday’s bingo session, which is open to the public. The games draw an older crowd, she said, including people who use wheelchairs and walkers.
“I could hear some old people saying ‘I can’t get under the table!’” she said on Sunday. “It was awful.”
Four deputies are on leave after the shooting. Deputies also arrested a woman on Saturday who they believe was an accomplice in the carjacking and carjacking attempt. Officers have not released the names of either suspect.
Around 10:38 a.m. on Saturday, deputies responded to a reported carjacking in the Hazel Dell neighborhood, when a victim said his van had been stolen by a woman and a man with a handgun. Fifteen minutes later, deputies were called to a different Vancouver location, where witnesses said a man and a woman matching the suspects’ descriptions had attempted to steal another vehicle with a person inside.
Deputies found the stolen van behind the American Legion at 14011 N.E. 20th Ave., they said on Saturday, and saw the male suspect enter the building.
Gardner said Saturday’s commotion happened too fast for her to see whether the man had a weapon. But later on Saturday, a member of the kitchen staff told her that the man had pointed a gun at workers as he entered the building through the kitchen, and said something to the effect of “get inside, I don’t want to hurt anybody.”
After the shooting, the bingo players were asked to leave their personal belongings — including phones, wallets and keys — inside. Some people were stranded without their personal items, Gardner said. She caught a bus on Sunday morning to go retrieve her car.
©2024 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit oregonlive.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency.
