A Lacey police officer killed a man wielding a gun in a standoff at an apartment complex on Wednesday, the Washington State Office of Independent Investigations said.
Lacey police responded to a report of a disturbance at an apartment complex on the 4600 block of 45th Avenue Southeast, said investigations office spokesperson Hector Castro.
After police officers arrived, they reported that the man had fired shots and was barricading himself in the apartment, Castro said. The regional SWAT team arrived and attempted to negotiate with the man.
Lacey police told people around 4:20 p.m. that there was a person with a gun barricaded in the area of 45th Avenue Southeast and College Street Southeast and that they should stay out of the area.
Police told the investigations office that at one point, the man came out, raised his gun and then at least one officer from the Lacey Police Department shot several rounds, striking and killing the man, Castro said.
The shooting happened while officers tried to “evacuate citizens within the complex,” Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders wrote on Facebook.
SWAT officers tried to save the man’s life. No officers were hurt, the investigations office said.
It is unknown if any law enforcement officers have been put on leave since the shooting.
