Washington Deputy Mistakes Gun For Taser
Updated: June 23rd, 2006 04:23 PM PDT
BRYNN GRIMLEY
Courtesy of the Kitsap Sun
A Kitsap County Sheriff's deputy was placed on administrative leave Thursday after shooting a man in the leg while the man was in a tree at the corner of National Avenue South and Arsenal Way.
The shooting is under investigation, although preliminary information indicates it was accidental, according to Deputy Scott Wilson, Kitsap County Sheriff's Office spokesman. The deputy, who has five years on the force, meant to fire a Taser, not the gun, Wilson said.
The man, who is believed to be in his 20s, was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where he was listed in satisfactory condition Thursday night.
Sheriff's deputies and Bremerton Fire and Rescue personnel were dispatched to the intersection of National Avenue South and Arsenal Way at 11:40 a.m.Thursday after an employee of a local business said a man had climbed 15 to 20 feet into a fig tree and was acting strangely. The man had been in the tree and talking to himself when one employee arrived at work at 7:30 a.m.
Deputies and rescue personnel attempted to coax the man from the tree for almost two hours before he was shot. During that time, the man was becoming increasingly hostile toward rescue personnel and deputies trying to get him out of the tree, witness David Blakeslee said.
Deputies were unsure whether the man was intoxicated, on drugs, or possibly experiencing a psychotic episode. They wanted to get him down before he hurt himself or others, Wilson said. One deputy attempted to discharge a Taser at the man, but when it did not work asked another deputy to fire a Taser. Instead of grabbing the Taser, the deputy grabbed and fired the gun, Wilson said.
Deputies carry both a Taser and a gun on their utility belts. The Taser used is similar in shape to the 40-caliber compact model gun the deputy used, Wilson said. Which is why the taser should not be gun shaped and should be carried on the weak side rather than the strong side.
The Taser, popular with law enforcement because it can stop an individual without using lethal force, is a handheld weapon that delivers an electric shock via two stainless steel barbs.
Blakeslee, an employee with nearby B&B Auto Repair, described the man's reaction to getting shot:
"He said, 'Ow, that hurt, I'm coming down, I'm coming down.'"
The man climbed down the tree on his own where medical personnel were waiting, Blakeslee said.
"I think they (emergency personnel) handled it really well," said witness JoAnn Baxter. "They didn't know if he was going to harm himself or others."
Blakeslee, who works across the street from where the incident occurred, said he heard the man talking to himself early Thursday morning. He at first thought the man was a land surveyor on the vacant lot using a walkie-talkie. Two hours later, the man was still talking to himself. Blakeslee went across the street and saw the man about 15 to 20 feet up in the tree.
He also saw "something strapped around the tree," although he could not see what the strap was attached to. Unsure if the man planned to hurt himself or what would happen if he fell, Blakeslee called 911 to report the man's strange behavior.
"They talked to him for a good hour and a half," he said. "It's unfortunate he got shot."
The Washington State Patrol is investigating the shooting, and the deputy will remain on administrative leave -- as is standard procedure -- until the investigation is complete.
The shooting is the second by Kitsap County Sheriff's deputies in the past six weeks. On May 16, two deputies responding to an anonymous 911 call at 4 a.m. shot and killed Shane Williams, 26, on the street in the 3700 block of West E Street, not far from the scene of Thursday's shooting. Preliminary investigation by the Washington State Patrol determined that Williams had charged the deputies with a machete.
