A Richland police officer identified as a veteran street crimes detective fatally shot a man during a pre-dawn traffic stop in Pasco this week, and investigators have spent the days since piecing together what happened and who else was involved.
The shooting happened around 5:50 a.m. Oct. 21 near West Argent Road and Kathemein Court, according to Apple Valley News Now. Police said shots were fired by both the person who was stopped and by officers. No officers were hurt. The person stopped was struck, taken to a hospital and later died of the wounds. That person's name has not been released in any of the reporting reviewed so far.
Federal investigators now involved
A follow-up report from NBC Right Now indicates federal investigators are now working the case alongside the Richland Police Department, though the station's own headline is the clearest signal of that involvement — specifics on which federal agency, and why it's involved in what began as a local traffic stop, haven't been spelled out yet in available coverage.
The Franklin County Sheriff's Office, Pasco police and other agencies also responded to the scene to investigate, Apple Valley News Now reported. That multi-agency response lines up with how Washington state law generally requires these cases to be handled.
Why an outside agency leads the review
Under Initiative 940, the 2018 ballot measure voters approved, any police use of deadly force in Washington must be investigated by an independent team, not the officer's own department. In past Pasco officer-involved shootings, that work has fallen to the Tri-Cities Special Investigations Unit, a multi-agency team previously activated for a separate case, according to NBC Right Now. It's not yet confirmed whether that same unit, the Franklin County Prosecutor's Office or a federal task force is leading the review of this shooting.
Officer identified as detective
The Tri-City Herald, in a story carried by Yahoo News, reported the veteran officer involved works as a street crimes detective for Richland police. The Herald's report did not name the detective in the portion reviewed for this story.
Local station NewsTalk 870 published an update Oct. 23 under the headline "New Details Released in Deadly Pasco Traffic Stop Shooting", signaling investigators turned up fresh information two days after the shooting. The specific findings in that update — whether it covers forensic results, body-camera footage or witness accounts — were not confirmed in the reporting reviewed here.
Questions that remain
Several basic facts about the case are still unclear. Investigators have not released the name of the man who was killed. No outlet has explained why a Richland police detective was conducting a traffic stop inside Pasco city limits rather than Pasco police, who patrol that area. And it's not confirmed which agency has formal lead on the use-of-force investigation.
The shooting adds to a string of public-safety stories in Pasco this fall, including a gang-related shooting that killed a 15-year-old, Richland's move to restart its license plate camera network and Pasco's push for a voluntary security camera registry.
Tri-Cities Today will update this story as the independent investigation produces more information, including the identity of the man killed and which agency is formally leading the review.
