The Clark County Sheriff’s deputy who fatally shot a man in Vancouver last week was involved in two previous incidents where police shot suspects to death, one in 2019 and one in 2021.
Deputy Michael Gonzalez shot and killed Branden Michael Whitcomb, 36, around 10:50 p.m. on July 30 near Main Street & East 19th Street in uptown Vancouver, the Clark County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
Officials released the names of Gonzalez and Whitcomb on Wednesday.
The medical examiner ruled Whitcomb’s death a homicide and confirmed that he died from gunshot wounds to his head, neck and torso, officials said.
Gonzalez has worked for the Clark County Sheriff’s Office since 2021 and is currently assigned as a patrol K9 handler, the Washington State Office of Independent Investigations said in a statement.
Gonzalez used his patrol car in 2021 to help stop a suspect fleeing in another car. The pursuit ended with two other deputies fatally shooting the suspect. In 2019, Gonzalez, then with Portland police, and another officer shot to death a man suspected of stabbing four people. A grand jury determined that the officers’ actions were justified.
Gonzalez was one of several deputies who responded to a 911 call from a home near East 27th Street and H Street last Wednesday. The caller said their son had been drinking and was high on meth. The caller added that the son had broken the front door of the caller’s house and “was armed and was going to kill the two of them,” officials said.
The intruder fled the house on a bike before deputies arrived, police said. A Vancouver police officer spotted him riding on Columbia Street a few minutes later. Shortly after he was spotted, a deputy radioed that he had a gun, officials said.
Deputies caught up to Whitcomb around 10:50 p.m., and Gonzalez shot him during the resulting confrontation, officials said.
Nobody else was reported injured during the shooting.
Gonzalez was placed on critical incident leave, which is standard procedure, while the Washington State Office of Independent Investigations investigates the shooting.
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