Centralia police officer shoots, kills male after responding to domestic dispute call

By The Chronicle staff
Posted 1/12/25

A Centralia Police Department officer shot and killed a male subject after responding to a domestic dispute call on Sunday morning, according to a news release from the department. 

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Centralia police officer shoots, kills male after responding to domestic dispute call

Posted

A Centralia Police Department officer shot and killed a male subject after responding to a domestic dispute call on Sunday morning, according to a news release from the department.

The officer was injured during a physical fight with the subject that preceded the shooting, according to police. The officer has since been treated for his injuries and released, according to the Washington State Office of Independent Investigations (OII), which is investigating the shooting. 

The identity of the male killed by the officer was not released by police.

Officers were dispatched to the 400 block of North Ash Street for a reported domestic dispute at 10:56 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 12, according to police.

“The first arriving officer made contact with a male subject,” police stated in the news release. “During the contact, the male subject and the officer got into a physical fight. The officer discharged their firearm, striking the male subject. The male subject received emergency medical treatment at the scene, where he was pronounced deceased. The officer was injured in the fight. No bystanders were injured.”

The Centralia police officer who fired the fatal shots has been placed on leave per department policy. Their identity was not released.

“The information being released is preliminary, and this is an ongoing investigation,” police stated in the release.

In compliance with state law, the Centralia Police Department has notified the OII, which will investigate the shooting and release the names of the officers involved.



OII is required to complete its investigations within 120 days or explain the reason for the delay to its advisory board, according to Hector Castro with OII.

“This is our second case since we began actively responding to incidents in the part of the state we refer to as our operations area Region 1,” Castro said in an email to The Chronicle. “The first incident was in Vancouver, and that case remains under investigation.”

The OII is a new office created by the state Legislature in 2021 to conduct independent investigations of deadly uses of force by law enforcement, according to The Seattle Times. The office has started its work in the southwestern part of the state, with plans to expand to the rest of Washington in coming years, according to The Seattle Times.

Video captured by body-worn cameras during the Centralia shooting will be reviewed and released later, police stated.

Centralia Police Department personnel will not be involved in the independent investigation, the department stated in a news release.

The Lewis County Coroner’s Office will release the name of the deceased.

Once the OII investigation is complete, the case will be forwarded to the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office for review.       

“The Centralia Police Department would like to thank the Chehalis Police Department, Lewis County Sheriff’s Office, Washington State Patrol, Riverside Fire Authority and AMR for their immediate response and assistance,” the department stated in the release. “Currently, no further information is being released from the Centralia Police Department.”