A man witnessed the fugitive and called 911 to report it. When police showed up, however, they thought the caller was the fugitive, since he fit the fugitive's description, including his vehicle.
When the man exited his car and went to his trunk, police thought he was arming himself and opened fire, hitting the man in the leg. The man then took up a position behind a gravel pile and returned fire, firing one shot.
Luckily, another call to 911 cleared it up and the shootout stopped.
The fugitive's car, however, had been around the corner. He had shot himself to death.
From an article:
In a statement released by the Vancouver Police Department, a spokesperson said when police arrived on scene near the 700 block of NE Blandford Dr., they encountered a white man in his 50s, with an appearance matching Kendall’s, who exited his car and reached for his trunk.
“Fearing that he armed himself, law enforcement fired multiple shots at the individual in order to stop the perceived threat before the citizen could enter the woods,” the Vancouver Police Department said in a statement.
The man was struck in the leg, fired one shot from behind a rock, then called police again to report he had been shot. Once officers confirmed he was not Kendall, the man — who does not wish to be identified — was given medical treatment and transported to a nearby hospital.
At the time, police believed Kendall was armed with a rifle.
“Unbeknownst to responding law enforcement personnel, the reporting citizen parked his vehicle in the gravel turn-out nearby Kendall’s vehicle and remained on scene after hanging up,” the VPD said in a statement.
Police said responding officers did not see Kendall’s vehicle, because it was obscured by wooded and rocky terrain.
Did police see that the witness had been armed, and did that contribute to them opening fire? Why did he return fire, knowing that these were police? And why did he stick around when he knew a dangerous fugitive was in the area. Was he trying to be a vigilante?
[this post is part of an ongoing series of people being shot to death or attacked despite being armed (and sometimes because they are armed)]
